Mid and East Antrim Council to look again at possible extension of recycling centre opening hours
An amendment to a proposed review of household recycling centre (HRC) opening hours was agreed at a recent meeting of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Knockagh Alliance Councillor Aaron Skinner tabled a motion seeking Sunday opening at the borough’s main HRCs.
Recycling centres in Larne and Ballymena were already closed on Sundays and Sunday opening at Sullatober, in Carrickfergus, was dropped when a new schedule came into effect in April.
Cllr Skinner told the meeting residents pay for the service and most work Monday to Friday “If we want to encourage people to recycle, then we have to give them time to actually do it,” he stated.
“This is not something new or risky. Sullatober has run a Sunday rota for years without any problems. Larne did the same and since Sunday opening stopped, we have had complaints from residents about lack of access and from staff who have seen their pay cut and morale drop.
“We already run plenty of services on a Sunday. Our leisure centres are open with lots of staff on site every week.”
He went on to say if cost is a concern, a weekday session could be dropped instead. “Leisure centres are open on a Sunday because that is when people use them and recycling centres should be no different,” he added.
The proposal was seconded by party colleague Carrickfergus Castle Cllr Lauren Gray who added: “This for me is really about fairness. Whatever your circumstances, as a ratepayer, you have the same access to services across all areas of our borough.”
Larne Lough Ulster Unionist Cllr Roy Beggs said the motion “fails to recognise they are open two evenings each week”. The main centres are open to 7 o’ clock on Thursday and Friday nights and they are also open on a Saturday.
Best Service
“We should be reviewing how we operate and try to provide the best service for our constituents and ratepayers,” he suggested.
Cllr Beggs pointed out it is double time payment for all staff on a Sunday, so there would be “considerable additional cost involved in opening on a Sunday”.
“Savings will be required to employ additional staff on a Sunday. Not only that, twice as much savings will be required for the equivalent amount of time. There may be knock-on effects. Some of our containers may need emptied after a busy Saturday.”
Cllr Beggs proposed an amendment that officers review and prepare a report outlining options, including an estimate of additional cost to ratepayers, should council decide to open on a Sunday with potential restriction of other opening.
Larne Lough DUP Cllr Gregg McKeen seconded the amendment saying: “Before we make a decision, we need the facts and data in front of us. Cost is one element.” He also highlighted potential impact on staffing and conditions of employment.
Braid Alliance Cllr Chelsea Harwood asked: “Is it not perfectly normal procedure if should a motion be successful for council officers to take it away to do these financial reports?
“I also find it really strange that councillors seem to have picked up and are being pedantic on wording. It is very prudent of the proposer to come up with a solution. It shows that he is thinking ahead. I find it so peculiar that councillors would not want front-line services at all times for members of this borough.”
Interim chief executive Valerie Watts said within standing orders, there is the option to make an amendment to a motion.
Too Expensive
Braid Sinn Fein Cllr Archie Rae said he believed it has already been through the council and costed and that it was too expensive to open on Sundays.
“I have spoken to some of the workers in Ballymena and they say they work six days a week and a Sunday is their only day off. If we have costed it once, why should we go through the whole procedure again?”
Carrickfergus Castle DUP Alderman Billy Ashe MBE stated: “When this came before the council, I was the only one who spoke against it. I got no support from anywhere else. This council continues to run round in a circle. ”
Braid TUV Cllr Matthew Warwick said he was going to be the first councillor to mention “Sabbath Day observance”. which he described as a “traditional viewpoint” adding “a lot of us still believe dearly in that”.
He indicated he has spoken to workers in recycling centres in Ballymena and Larne and reported that there is “no appetite for this amongst the workforce”.
Cllr Skinner said he was “happy to accept the amendment”.
Cllr Rae insisted: “We have already voted on Sunday closing. Are we actually going to check again something we have already checked?”
The interim chief executive said: “This will not be a difficult thing to do as there was a lot of groundwork done in terms of the report when it initially came when this was put forward as one of the savings proposals, so it will not be too hard to resurrect and update all of that information one more time.”
Bannside Sinn Fein Cllr Ian Friary asked that the arrangement be “left the way it is”.
Cllr Beggs said a review of services might mean “tweaking” evening opening hours.
Magic Bullett
Cllr Skinner said: “I think the magic bullet of opening until 7pm in the evening ignores a lot of our residents.
“It was discussed in August 2023 as part of an idea of rationalisation which was for all household recycling centres to be treated the same. At that point, Carrick was the only one still open on a Sunday. We are no longer in the financial situation that we were back then.”
Ald Stewart McDonald, a Bannside TUV councillor, asked if people cannot access a recycling centre Monday to Friday, why can’t they go on a Saturday.
Cllr Gray said that if people cannot go to recycling centres on a Saturday, waste may be “left lying around” someone’s property or blow onto the road.
An officer read the amended motion which proposed the council “recognises most residents of Mid and East Antrim work Monday to Friday and recognises the importance of providing extended opening hours at our recycling centres which currently open on Saturdays and some evenings to facilitate residents.
“We request that officers review and prepare a report outlining options that might improve the household recycling service including an estimate of the additional cost to ratepayers should council decide to open on a Sunday and outline the degree of restrictions of existing opening times that would be required to make the equivalent savings.”
In response to allegations made by Cllr Skinner during the debate, the interim chief executive said she “could not accept his comments”, particularly in relation to her personally.
“I absolutely will be demanding an apology from you on that and if the apology is not forthcoming, I will be taking personal legal advice on that because you absolutely accused me of something that I have not done.”
Cllr Skinner replied: “What I accused you of was refusing to answer a straightforward question on procedure twice from Cllr Harwood and a third time by myself. You refused to answer the question each of those three occasions.”
In reply to a query from Bannside TUV Cllr Anna Henry over how Cllr Skinner had voted in favour of “streamlining opening hours” in 2023, he said: “In August 2023, it was about rationalising the service so that all recycling centres in Mid and East Antrim do the same and it was in light of a £7m deficit in our budget. Neither one of those situations are being reversed tonight.
“I don’t believe we need a vote on this. I think there is an acceptance that we accept the amendment. The room seems to be in favour of the amendment.”
The interim chief executive said: “For the minute, I will reflect on Cllr Skinner’s answer to my comments to him and I will question my own behaviours and my comments before I do anything else. I do believe I did answer your questions. I was not deliberately prevaricating on any answer. I wanted to be sure that the answer was correct and the advice I was giving was correct. ”
Following a vote in which 24 councillors were in favour, eight, against and one abstention, the amended motion was carried.
Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter