South Ruislip Household Re-use & Recycling Centre (HRRC) on Victoria Road, provided and managed by the West London Waste Authority (WLWA) but funded by the London Borough of Hillingdon council, will close at 6pm on Saturday, 31 May 2014, it has been announced.

Reasons behind closure

WLWA made the decision to close the site on 11 April, after a funding disagreement.

The waste authority had asked Hillingdon council to cover the full cost of running the HRRC, but was ‘unable to confirm funding to meet the full costs of the site in 2014/15 and onwards’. The West London authority has said that ‘every effort’ will be made to find alternative jobs for the staff currently working on the site.

It reportedly costs £715,000 a year to operate the site, including land rent (with the South Ruislip site on Victoria Road reportedly ‘appear[ing] expensive compared with the notional costs of other HRRCs’), staff salaries, and insurance costs, but excluding disposal fees. Without this finance, WLWA says, the site ‘cannot remain open’.

Although ‘various options’ for reducing the cost of the site were proposed, WLWA said it had ‘not been possible to reach agreement’. The sticking point comes over the fact that Hillingdon council has identified a desire to take over operations of the site, but on the agreement that the two other councils falling in the HRRC’s catchment area (Harrow and Ealing) share the cost of operating the site, or allow Hillingdon to charge residents from the two other boroughs to use the facility. However, this has not been agreed.

'Very disappointed in the way the WLWA has handled this matter'

As such, Hillingdon Council has said that the decision to close the site was 'taken without sufficient time given for meaningful discussion or to reach agreement on the facilities' future'.

Jean Palmer, Deputy Chief Executive and Corporate Director for Residents Services at Hillingdon council, said: "We have said all along that we want the site to continue operating and regret the hasty decision taken by the West London Waste Authority to close their own facility and the impact this will have on residents.

"We are also very disappointed in the way the WLWA has handled this matter and, more generally, their running of the site.

"We are keen for a well-managed civic amenity facility in the area but have been given little time to reach agreement on Victoria Road's future and are being asked to take on full and ever-increasing running costs when 40 per cent of users are proven to be from neighbouring boroughs, which do not pay any share of the cost.

"We are therefore looking for an alternative site so we can operate our own facility that provides value for money and a good service for the residents of Hillingdon. However, whilst this process is underway and to give the West London Waste Authority more time to reconsider its position, the council is willing to fund the operation of the site for one month beyond the stated closing date."

The Greater London Authority has reportedly not raised any concerns over the site’s closure, as there are alternative recycling centres across West London for residents to use. Anyone visiting the South Ruislip HRRC will be handed leaflets detailing which alternative facilities will be available to them once the site has closed.

There are currently no plans in place for the use of the land after 31 May, but the WLWA has said that ‘until such time as an alternative use is identified, there is the possibility that, if Hillingdon Council are able to fund the full running costs, the recycling centre site could re-open’.

The operation of the waste transfer station next to the recycling centre, run by SITA UK, will not be affected by the HRRC closure.

Read the report behind the decision to close the South Ruislip HRRC.