A decision to close the household recycling centres at Lower Compton and Purton next year has caused mounting concern in Calne and the surrounding villages with residents questioning what the loss of the site will mean for access, travel and fly-tipping in the area.
Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet voted on 9th December to close the Lower Compton and Purton household recycling centres when their contract ends on 1st August 2026.
The two sites are the only HRCs in the county not owned by the council - both sit on land controlled by Hills Waste Solutions.
According to the council, the cost demanded by Hills to continue operating them after 2026 had risen to a level it described as “unjustifiable” and impossible to absorb while maintaining a legally required balanced budget.
During the meeting, cabinet members spoke of a dramatic increase in the figures put forward by Hills, with one councillor saying the numbers were so high he initially assumed they were a typing error. Cllr Ian Thorn, leader of Wiltshire Council, also stressed that the scale of the increase left the authority with little room to manoeuvre.
The council has committed to building a new, council-owned recycling centre in the north of Wiltshire, but it is not expected to open until late 2028, leaving a gap of more than two years between closure and replacement. In the meantime, Calne-area residents would need to travel to Devizes, Marlborough or Stanton St Quintin.
The matter resurfaced at last night’s Calne Town Council meeting, where Conservative councillor Bobby Seymour questioned Calne Town Mayor, Ian Thorn, who also serves as leader of Wiltshire Council, about what steps he had taken to stand up for Calne residents. He noted that when the idea of closing Lower Compton was first raised last week, some residents described the move as “silly” and warned it could increase fly-tipping.
In reply, Ian Thorn reiterated the position set out at county level, that the council could not justify the significantly higher costs being proposed for the Hills-owned sites. He said Wiltshire Council could not allow itself to be “held over a barrel” by a private contractor, particularly while renegotiating major waste contracts. Thorn added that the authority intends to move at pace to deliver a replacement site, though no confirmed location or timeline has yet been published.
The decision forms part of a wider package of proposals agreed by Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet to cut future costs and improve the sustainability of waste and recycling services. The council outlined a programme designed to ensure services remain financially sustainable, environmentally responsible and aligned with upcoming national statutory changes. It says the intention is to deliver long-term value for taxpayers while reducing carbon emissions and supporting better recycling rates.
Cllr Paul Sample JP, Cabinet Member for Environment, Climate and Waste, said the proposals represent a significant opportunity to modernise the service. He described the coming changes as a rare chance to redesign waste systems so they are “smarter, greener and future-ready.” Closing the Household Recycling Centres at Purton and Lower Compton, he said, was a difficult but unavoidable step, driven by high costs and essential upgrades. He added that plans for a new site in the north of the county were being accelerated, with further details expected within the next three to four years.
The programme agreed by Cabinet includes maintaining the current kerbside system for dry recycling, supported by improvements at the Material Recovery Facility that are expected to boost recycling rates without requiring extra containers or changes for residents. The council will also consult the public in early 2026 on moving household waste collections from fortnightly to three-weekly in 2027. With food waste and flexible plastics removed from black bins, the authority believes residual waste will fall significantly, helping cut carbon emissions and reduce costs.
A phased rollout of a booking system for Household Recycling Centres is also planned, which the council says will help reduce queues, cut emissions and improve safety at busy sites. Cabinet further agreed the establishment of Local Authority Trading Company partnerships to provide kerbside waste and recycling collections, and to manage Material Recovery Facility operations, when the current contracts end in July 2026. Contract extensions have been awarded for two provider-owned transfer stations, residual waste disposal, HRC management and the composting of garden waste until July 2034. A contract variation will also enable off-site anaerobic digestion of separately collected food waste and the use of alternative treatment processes to recover energy from remaining residual waste.
Wiltshire Council says the overall package prepares the county for future statutory requirements, reduces carbon emissions and ensures services remain financially sustainable. The proposals, it says, mark “an important step towards a cleaner, greener Wiltshire”.
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