A recycling centre in Llanarth will remain open after new funding was secured by the county council.

Senior councillors on Ceredigion's cabinet met on Tuesday to discuss the future of recycling centres across the county after it was proposed to close the Rhydeinon site in Llanarth in a bid to cut costs.

Earlier this year, the council held a public consultation following last year’s decision to potentially close one of its four Household Waste Sites and review the opening hours at the other sites in order to make a £100,000 saving previously identified in a long list of council budget savings.

Ceredigion has four waste sites: Kilmaenllwyd near Cardigan, Glanyrafon Industrial Estate near Aberystwyth, Lampeter, and Rhydeinon near Llanarth.

The consultation said Glanyrafon is the only site in the north, with the preference to keep it open, with Kilmaenllwyd providing a southern facility; Rhydeinon and Lampeter having the greatest overlap.

Council documents had said that mothballing the Rhydeinon site and maintaining opening hours at the other sites “would have the least impact on residents”.

Following that consultation, 1,250 responses were received, “highlighting strong opposition to the proposal, concerns about travel distance, fuel costs, fly tipping, and the impact on the Welsh language and on communities.”

Council officers have since managed to secure additional funding from the UK government for recycling.

Cllr Marc Davies, who is chair of the thriving communities committee spoke at the cabinet meeting to thank officials for securing the extra funding.

The cabinet agreed to reverse the decision to make £100,000 of savings in light of the extra funding and to keep all four recycling sites open with their current opening hours.

Additional funding will be sought for future years.

Councillors were told officers are continuing to explore grant funding opportunities to mitigate the position as far as possible, and that a wider and longer-term review of the council’s waste services has commenced, with further reports on the situation expected scrutiny within the coming 12 months.

Aberaeron county councillor, Elizabeth Evans, welcomed the u-turn, saying: “A good decision by Ceredigion’s cabinet - they have reversed the decision to close the Household Waste Site at Llanarth. Well done everyone who responded to the consultation - you can own this u-turn.”

The consultation was described in the chamber as one of the largest the authority has seen.

A report into the consultation said: "Over 1,200 responses were received, highlighting strong opposition to the proposal, concerns about travel distance, fuel costs, fly tipping, and the impact on the Welsh language and on communities."

The report adds that 90 per cent of respondents to the closure of Rhydeinon said it would have a direct negative impact.

404 people mentioned the increased travel distance, with one quote reading: "It would mean a 40+ mile round trip to one of the other sites. This increases the time taken to at least 2 hours and making travel costs expensive more so in the current financial situation we all find we are in.”