The West London Waste Authority has come under fire from Hillingdon Council for stalling on an offer to keep open its civic amenity site in South Ruislip for an extra month.
The council formally made the offer a week ago, in order to give the WLWA time to reconsider its initial decision to close it.
But Hillingdon Council offered to fund the operation until the end of June. It says the WLWA has failed to address the request in its correspondence – despite the deadline for closure getting closer.
Jean Palmer, the council's deputy chief executive and corporate director of residents services, said: “Our residents will be astonished that the WLWA hasn’t even bothered to give us a decision on our very reasonable offer to cover the costs of the site for June.
“Dragging their feet in this way only adds to the concern we already have about the WLWA’s running of the site and handling of this whole situation. Our residents want and deserve an answer from the WLWA.”
The council says it has been fighting for some time to ensure the WLWA-managed site is efficiently run and operating a good service.
It does not have a say in the running or financial management of the site but has been asked to take on full and ever-increasing costs, despite 40 per cent of the site's users travelling from other boroughs which do not pay a share.
Unless a deal can be done, Hillingdon people will be forced to use the borough's only other waste and recycling site in New Years Green Lane, Harefield.
It is free of charge to residents with a Hillingdon First card or proof of address such as a utility bill, non-Hillingdon residents will be charged to tip waste there.
The West London Waste Authority has been approached for comment.
