Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)

- Hansard -

I should like to present this petition, on behalf of the residents of Great Harwood in Lancashire and of surrounding areas, to save the recycling centre in said town. A petition in similar terms, asking for the same action, has been signed by a number of my constituents. Great Harwood Community Action Group has gathered a petition of some 1,500 signatures; 3,000 signatures against the closure were gathered at the recycling centre prior to that; about 600 protest letters have been sent to the county council; and I personally received 84 letters of objection to the closure at the beginning of the process.

The petition states:

The Petition of residents of Great Harwood, Lancashire and others,

Declares that following Lancashire County Council's budget review and report into household waste recycling centres, there are now plans to close further recycling centres across the county; that it has been announced that Great Harwood is one of the sites that has been identified to close; and that the Petitioners believe that this will inevitably decrease recycling and increase fly-tipping in Great Harwood and the surrounding areas of Lancashire

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to write to Lancashire County Council to ask them to reconsider the proposal to shut the Great Harwood Household Waste Recycling Centre and to keep it open, as it is a vital service to the town and surrounding areas.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.

[P000962]