Surrey residents tell the Tories - keep our tips open!

Thousands of surrey residents have responded to the county council's consultation on whether to close four community recycling centres (CRCs) in Dorking, Bagshot, Cranleigh and Warlingham, as well as slashing opening hours and increasing charges at those centres which remain. The consultation generated 13,637 responses, one of the biggest ever, and now proceeds to the conservative cabinet who will make a decision at a meeting on 26th September. Qver 90% of the users of the four threatened recycling centres wished to retain the CRCs and over 75% of those who responded wished to retain the daily free waste allowance currently permitted by the county council. As well as encouraging residents to engage with the consultation, Liberal Democrat county councillors handed in a petition of 3,245 signatures calling for the CRCs to remain open, for the opening hours to be protected and for the daily waste allowance to be retained. Cllr Stephen Cooksey, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Environment, said today: "I am pleased that so many residents responded in such strong terms to the County Council's consultation, sending them a clear message that the CRCs should be retained and these unpopular proposals dropped. On top of this, my colleagues and I collected thousands of signatures across the county on a petition which will now have to be considered by the Conservative Cabinet. "Previously, the Conservatives at County Hall have ignored the results of consultations or already decided what the outcome will be regardless of what the residents of Surrey think. This consultation has generated one of the largest responses ever and I am calling for the Cabinet to respect the wishes of the residents of Surrey and maintain these vital services". The results of the CRC consultation can be found at: mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/documents/s39577/Annexe%202%20to%20EISC%20Report%20on%20CRC%20Changes%207%20Sept%202017.pdf