MACHYNLLETH residents face yet another blow to their waste services after a county council Cabinet report suggested the recycling centre in Newtown may be closed.

Stating the need to find further savings of £700,000, a report by Cllr John Powell, Powys County Council Cabinet member for waste and recycling, proposes a public consultation on five available options, only two of which would realise the level of savings required.

And both of those options would see the closure of a household waste recycling centre in either Newtown or Welshpool, the only two remaining in Montgomeryshire after Machynlleth’s Potters Yard was closed in January 2015.

A replacement weekend bulky waste collection service, which was introduced to minimise the effect of the loss of Potters Yard, was also ended last month, leaving Machynlleth residents with the option of a 60-mile round trip to Newtown, or a £25 fee to have up to three items collected.

And the closure of Newtown’s recycling centre would mean residents would have to make an 80-mile round trip to Welshpool to use the recycling services provided by Powys County Council.

Machynlleth councillor Michael Williams said the closure of Newtown’s recycling centre would be “ridiculous”, and would leave residents with no option but to travel to recycling centres in other counties, at Aberystwyth or Dolgellau, to dispose of their items free of charge.

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