THE Hills Group has said it is 'disappointed' by Wiltshire Council’s decision to close the household recycling centres at Lower Compton and Purton, and has challenged claims about the scale of cost increases involved.
In a statement issued this week, Hills said it had been in discussions with Wiltshire Council about the future of the two sites since February 2022, and rejected suggestions that its proposed costs represented a four-fold increase.
The company said that when it was invited in May 2024 to submit revised financial models for extending the contract, the increase in costs was around 75 per cent, not the 400 per cent figure that has been cited publicly.
Hills said the current contract is based on a pricing structure submitted in 2014, with annual increases linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). It said that over the past 11 years, actual operating costs had risen significantly faster than CPI, with Hills absorbing those additional costs throughout the life of the contract.
The company said its recent submissions reflected both those rising costs and the need for essential reinvestment in the two sites to allow the service to continue at its current standard.
In its statement, Hills said the investment would have enabled it to “continue to provide an essential service to the residents of Calne and Purton, maintaining the high standards our staff have achieved consistently”.
Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet voted on 9th December to close the Lower Compton and Purton sites when their contracts end on 1st August 2026, citing sharply rising costs and the fact that both centres are located on privately owned land.
The council has said it cannot allow itself to be “held over a barrel” by a private contractor and maintains the closures are unavoidable to protect its balanced budget. It has committed to delivering a new, council-owned recycling centre in the north of Wiltshire by late 2028, leaving a gap of more than two years after the closures.
The decision has prompted strong criticism from town councillors, MPs and residents in Calne and the surrounding area, with concerns raised about increased travel distances, fly-tipping and reduced recycling rates.
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