PUBLIC meetings are to be held in Williton and Dulverton after residents expressed outrage at Somerset Council proposals to close waste recycling centres in the two communities.

The Williton meeting will take place in Williton Pavilion at 7 pm on Tuesday, January 30, to provide an opportunity for people to ‘express views’ on the closure suggestion.

Ahead of that, Williton parish councillors will also discuss their reaction to the news at an extraordinary meeting which has been called for Monday (January 22).

Details of the Dulverton meeting have not yet been announced.

The unitary council is proposing to close five of its 16 household waste recycling centres to save £883,000 as it tries to stave off bankruptcy caused by a £100 million hole in its budget for 2024-25.

Williton Waste Recycling Centre could be closed to save money.
Williton Waste Recycling Centre could be closed to save money. (Google Maps)

It has named Williton and Dulverton as two of the five, the others being in Crewkerne, Cheddar, and Castle Cary.

Williton Parish Council chairman Cllr Peter Payne said: “We need to discuss it further because it obviously has implications for the community.

“If Williton closes then it is a trip to Minehead, taunton, or Bridgwater, which are the nearest recycling centres to us.”

Cllr Payne said it had been unfortunate that parish councillors only found out about the proposals via the press, as ‘I have heard nothing at all directly from Somerset Council’.

Dulverton Town Council chairman Cllr Christine Duberry told the Free Press: “It is vital that Somerset Council listen to the town council who in the past have demonstrated and fought to keep the recycling centre open with the support of the local community.

“Charges were implemented a few years ago, subsequently withdrawn, which resulted in a considerable increase in fly tipping in Dulverton and throughout the surrounding area.

“Due to this being a very rural area we cannot use CCTV to monitor these problems nor can perpetrators be identified and caught.

“The problems will only be exacerbated by the closure of the facility.”

Cllr Duberry said closure would leave residents to make a 34-mile round trip to West Somerset’s only remaining waste recycling centre, in Minehead.

She said currently the Dulverton facility was only open Saturdays and Sundays, which appeared to work well and fulfil the community’s requirements.