‘No evidence’ of fly tip rise after Shropshire residents banned from Telford recycling centres - councillor

There is ‘no evidence’ that Shropshire residents are turning to fly tipping after being banned from using recycling sites in Telford, a leading councillor says.

The controversial issue of who can use the Telford & Wrekin Council household recycling sites at Hortonwood and Halesfield was raised at a meeting this week.

Telford & Wrekin Council’s Tory opposition group leader told a meeting that doesn’t think the ‘scourge’ of flytipping will he helped by the rule change at the borough’s household recycling sites.

Councillor Andrew Eade (Church Aston & Lilleshall) told the Labour-run cabinet that he has asked the council for data on flytipping following the decision.

Sticking to the rules means residents with a TF postcode who live across the council border in Shifnal now face a 23-mile round trip to Bridgnorth also in Shropshire, instead of a three mile boot laden jaunt to the Telford & Wrekin Council-run Halesfield site.

Cabinet member Carolyn Healy (Labour, Ironbridge Gorge) said that the centres had seen more visits from Shropshire Council residents after the next door authority decided to charge for garden waste collections.

But the portfolio holder for neighbourhoods, planning and sustainability, added that there is ‘no evidence’ that people were turning to fly tipping.

“There is absolutely no evidence that the sort of people who bother to sort out their waste and take it to a household recycling centre and do the right thing are the sort of people who then fly tip,” she told the meeting on Thursday (May 14).

“There is just no evidence of that at all.”

Councillor Healy added that the council was making sure that a facility wholly funded by its council tax payers was “not subsidising” a Shropshire Council decision to charge for green waste.

“We have seen an increase in green waste coming in to Halesfield particularly from outside of the borough,” she said.

“Why should our council tax payers be subsidising that policy decision by a neighbouring council?

“We are on the side of our residents and that is why we have made our household recycling centres for our residents only.”

The council changed to a Telford & Wrekin Council residents only access approach from April 2026.

In a statement at the time the authority said the facilities and processing costs at the sites are paid for by Telford & Wrekin Council residents.

“Significant use by individuals living outside the borough places an unnecessary financial burden on Telford & Wrekin council taxpayers,” the authority said.

They added the policy “will help remove this additional cost, enabling us to maintain free garden waste collections and protect other front-line services.”

People who used the sites have been asked to take proof of address.

Councillor Eade and his party’s MP for The Wrekin, Mark Pritchard, have urged Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council to find a solution.

Mr Pritchard, whose parliamentary constituency covers both sides of the council border, recently said on social media: “We need a solution which reflects the lived realities of residents who live near the Shropshire/Telford & Wrekin border, and which encourages more recycling rather than more fly-tipping.”