Whilst we wait for news on when KCC intends to launch the public consultation on the Household Waste Recycling Centres, our campaign continues to undertake a number of activities to support the fight to stop the closure of the Richborough site, and any other sites in Kent that remain at risk of closure.
We have been running our campaign stall very successfully in the centre of Sandwich on a number of occasions and we are now planning to extend our reach by visiting other locations that will also be impacted, should Richborough close. More news to follow on this soon.
One of our other activities is to GATHER KEY INFORMATION FROM KCC via a number of Freedom Of Information Requests that have been submitted to ascertain the level of analysis undertaken in arriving at their proposals.
We published the first set of responses that were provided by KCC on 24th July and we are now able to supplement this with a further set of responses we have received.
Some of this information will be helpful in providing guidance to residents in responding to the public consultation, when launched.
A few points that jump out of the latest set of responses are that:
- The number of bookings to visit the Richborough site is indicating an upward trend ie demand to use the site’s facilities continues to increase: the total number of bookings made over the first six months of 2023 is approximately 7% higher when compared with the first six months of 2022 (34242 bookings in 2023 v 31995 in 2022).
- very surprising is the detail provided on revenue generated across all sites, through the separating out of certain materials that you might expect to have a value through reuse/ recycling. Of the materials asked about, KCC have advised that either “no revenue generated” or they have provided details of a negative cost relating to the disposal of these items;
- KCC are unable to provide the number of visits to the Richborough site during the years 2018 to 2021; and finally
- KCC has only been able to provide estimated savings from closing Richborough for 2022/23. They are unable, at this point, to share any savings they have estimated for the present year (now significantly impacted by the delay in going to a public consultation) or for future years.
All indications are that KCC will move to a public consultation so we intend to keep mounting our campaign of opposition over the coming weeks. Our Facebook Page (Save Richborough Household Waste Recycling Centre) continues to be a good source of information relating to the campaign. Screenshots of the latest KCC response can be found posted there. And, of course, why not talk to us when we are out and about running our campaign stall.