LEGAL advice over the council’s decision to close a recycling centre is being sought by community members.

Everleigh recycling centre closed on Tuesday after cabinet members ruled that it is the least used service in the county and so could not justify running and maintenance costs.

Despite 1300 residents objecting to its closure, the council said low visitor numbers and £100k annual running costs meant it must shut. During consultation the Pewsey Community Area Partnership sought legal advice and now, following its conclusion, is set to investigate how the council came to the decision to close the recycling centre.

Colin Gale, of the Pewsey Community Area Partnership, said: “PCAP, Pewsey Parish Council and the Campaign to Protect Rural England remain deeply concerned at the decision taken by Cabinet on October 9 to close Everleigh HRC and the announcement at the end of last week that this will take place on November 6.

“PCAP sought legal advice after the consultation about Everleigh began in June this year, and for legal reasons, were subsequently advised to defer further consideration of this matter until the Council’s decision was known, at which point both the consultation and decision making processes could be examined further.

“At a PCAP meeting held on October 18, the Cabinet’s decision on October 9 was noted, as was the fact that further information had been supplied to solicitors for review and advice.

“It is anticipated that this advice will be received very shortly, but pending receipt thereof, PCAP, with the support of PPC and CPRE, have no further comment to make at this time.” Confirming the closure earlier in October, Cllr Bridget Wayman, cabinet member for waste, said: “We have looked really carefully at this and this is one of the savings to try to make a balanced budget. If we kept the site open we would still have the running costs.”

Pewsey Councillor Paul Oatway said: “The removal of recycling options including cardboard, batteries and tumble dryers, resulted in visitors being forced away. This will have removed an accurate figure of who visits the site. Everywhere I go Everleigh is brought up and there is significant political and public pressure that it should be retained.” The nearest recycling centres for Pewsey residents are Marlborough, Devizes, and Amesbury.