A PETITION urging Hampshire County Council to keep domestic recycling centres open has gathered more than 1k names in one day.

The petition, launched at lunchtime on Wednesday, January 16, was in direct response to proposals contained in Hampshire County Council’s ‘Future Services’ Consultation.

The consultation includes proposals to close recycling sites at Somerley and Marchwood, both of which the HCC consultation document classifies as ‘smaller sites, operationally challenging’. The petition has now attracted around 1,500 names.

As previously reported, the council wants to shut several tips across the county in a bid to save money to help meet its forecasted £132m budget shortfall by April 2025.

New Forest District Councillor Jack Davies, for Pennington, said the proposals are "ill-considered and unworkable", adding: "Closing the sites at Somerley and Marchwood would leave Pennington as the sole household waste recycling centre for the whole of the New Forest. The queues and tailbacks will be unimaginable.”

Salisbury Journal: Councillors said the proposals are 'ill-considered'.Councillors said the proposals are 'ill-considered'. (Image: Liberal Democrats)

Cllr Caroline Rackham, for Totton South, branded Hampshire County Council's plan "counter-strategic" as it makes recycling more difficult at a time it should be encouraged.

"Closing these recycling centres will only encourage fly-tipping, and any savings made will be eaten up in additional costs for clearing up our forest," she added.

The Liberal Democrats also challenge the content of the consultation document which says all but a small number of properties in the far north-west corner of the New Forest would still be within 20 minutes drive of a recycling centre.

“Residents of Fordingbridge can rightly feel aggrieved that their 22-mile journey is so lightly dismissed," said Cllr Davies.

"On a Sunday morning that journey could take up to an hour. To describe one of the largest towns in the west of the New Forest as ‘a small number of properties in the far north-west’ is, pardon the pun, a load of rubbish.”

The Hampshire County Council consultation runs until 31 March 2024.

To view the petition click here.