Public thrown out of throwing out debate

It was far from rubbish

Members of the public were thrown out of a meeting on Thursday during a debate over where to throw out the rubbish.

A new rubbish collection facility will be built in Bideford after Torridge District Council approved an application, brought forward by the authority itself, at a planning meeting on Thursday [30 March].

The district’s waste is currently collected at facilities in Torrington, Holsworthy, Appledore and an existing location in Bideford.

Green Party Cllr Peter Christie and Independent colleague Cllr Doug Bushbie both agreed that a new site was needed elsewhere.

The new site will be built on Gammaton Road in a rural part of the town, but it will be close to residents’ home.

Many of them were concerned about noise, odour and traffic issues, with heavy vehicles carrying rubbish going past them to get to the processing centre.

Conservative Cllr Dermot McGeough slammed the idea, saying that the council should not be spending taxpayers’ money to build a new rubbish facility in the area, but should instead be focusing on providing affordable housing.

“I’ve spoken for years saying the best site for the recycling centre or this depot should have been either Caddsdown or Clovelly Road Industrial Estate,” he said.

“We’re in a housing crisis, yet we’re actually going to spend millions and millions of pounds on this site to develop, when we’re actually partners with North Devon and it’s already got a purpose-built area there at Brynsworthy Park. Now, is this good use of taxpayers’ money? No, it’s not.”

Chair of the meeting, Independent Cllr Chris Leather, cut his colleague off, saying that “we’re not talking about affordable housing,” leading to a small verbal squabble between the pair.

Independent Cllr Philip Pennington then argued that the nearby roads are not suitable for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). “The site just doesn’t seem in the best place from the Highways point of view,” he said.

Temperatures had been slowly sizzling among members of the public watching the meeting, and things eventually boiled over when one of them tried to address the committee, which they were not allowed to do.

After persistent interruptions, the meeting was suspended. When the committee returned, it eventually voted overall to approve the collection facility despite the audible public backlash.