PLAID Cymru is pledging to reopen Waungron Road recycling centre as part of its manifesto ahead of May’s council elections – but Labour describe the commitment as “misleading”.
With 170 days until polling day, Plaid has begun a weekly countdown of policies it would carry out if it was in charge of Cardiff council.
The recycling centre was closed in April 2014 and on November 1 this year planning permission was granted to turn the depot into a bus interchange.
The council’s Directorate Delivery Plan says the interchange would link buses between West Cardiff, the City Centre and East Cardiff with rail services from Radyr, Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr.
The disused recycling centre as seen from Waungron Park station
In comments made to the council, The Llandaff Society said it “supports the principle of a public transport interchange in this general location, but considers that further thought needs to be given to its design”.
It added: “We are concerned that a new transport interchange on this triangle of land would turn it into an unattractive wasteland of tarmac with a reduced level of road safety at a key junction.”
Fairwater councillor Neil McEvoy, leader of the Plaid Cymru group, is against the plan for the interchange.
He said: “This was the most popular recycling centre in the city and Cardiff Plaid pledges to reopen it as a redline policy. We will also introduce free bulky waste collection and bring back temporary community skips.
“On the most basic level we will greatly increase the number of people employed to keep our streets clean.
“We will invest in staff at the frontline and introduce a city-wide voluntary scheme, the details of which we will release at a later date.”
The disused recycling centre as seen from Waungron Road
But Labour councillor for Fairwater, Paul Mitchell, said anyone who claims they can reopen the recycling centre is being misleading.
“After a decade of stagnation, one of the things we are promoting is the completion of the circle line connecting Radyr and Coryton. The buses will help us take a lot of traffic from the expansion of the city off the roads.
“In 2008, we had more than enough money to run four recycling centres, but hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts mean this is no longer possible, and any commitment to re-open is very misleading without telling us how to fund this.”
A community poll conducted by Coun McEvoy in March 2015 asked residents: “Do you want the council to reopen the Waungron Road Recycling Centre?” There were 1,869 votes recorded for yes with four votes for no, on a turnout of 19.37%.
