Senior Conservative Councillor Richard Eddy has secured a commitment from the Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees to work to establish a new recycling centre on Hartcliffe Way by the end of his Mayoral term of office, in 2020.
Cllr Eddy (Con, Bishopsworth), a longstanding campaigner for this facility, tabled a series of questions probing the Labour Mayor’s commitment to building the centre at the Full Council, held on 18th July 2017.
Mayor Rees replied that a feasibility study into the funding of the centre was expected to report by February 2018, and Cllr Eddy pressed him whether he expected the new site to be opened by May 2020.
Cllr Eddy said: “The long promised recycling centre in Hartcliffe Way was a key feature of Mayor Rees’s manifesto back in 2016 and, last summer, I publicly challenged him to commit to delivering it. He replied then that he hoped to have it up-and-running by 2018. South Bristol’s public have had to wait far too long for this site to open its doors and littering and fly-tipping in South Bristol have exploded as a consequence."
"I appreciate that funding for this crucial facility is always going to be an issue but, in my view, it requires political will to transform it into a reality. Whilst I was pleased by his pledge to deliver this centre was at the heart of his Mayoral election manifesto, the slippage since has been very disappointing. South Bristolians will join me in being delighted by his commitment and will expect to see the recycling centre fast-tracked and open by 2020.”
