COUNCIL chiefs have quashed rumours that they plan to transform the former Dreghorn dump into a new site for travellers to settle.

Residents were up in arms this week after rumours circulated that the former recycling centre was going to be used as a new site for travellers' caravans.

One resident said: "Does there not need to be some sort of public consultation as to what is getting built or moved in etc? I appreciate they (travellers) have got to go somewhere, but I think it's unfair of North Ayrshire Council to just put them there without consulting people it may effect, if this is true."

The dump controversially closed in March as part of cost cutting measures by North Ayrshire Council, leaving Bartonholm Recycling Centre as the only one serving the town, raising fears of increased flytipping.

And now fresh fears of flytipping emerged after new pictures showed huge queues to enter the Bartonholm site this weekend.

Residents were left fuming after facing a long wait to dump their rubbish, with most blaming the closure of the Dreghorn site for the delays. 

Maryann Miller, who took the photo, said: "Well done North Ayrshire Council - Dreghorn Recycling Centre closed and the only one left in the area is queued out and can't cope. People will end up dumping stuff everywhere."

Irvine Times:

Another concerned resident added: "We were saying the same thing. They make it so difficult to dispose of rubbish responsibly that people will just start dumping it at the side of the road."

However a spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council said there was definitely no plans to move travellers into the former Dreghorn site and put the queues down to teething problems of the new compactors.

He told the Times: “We are currently considering options for the future use of the former Dreghorn Household Waste and Recycling Centre, however, we can confirm that there are no plans for the land to be used as a travellers’ site.

“As part of our ongoing process to improve the service at Bartonholm Recycling Centre, new compactors were installed at the end of last week.

“Unfortunately there were a couple of minor technical and personnel issues which caused some problems over the weekend. We can only apologise for any inconvenience that this may have caused.

“The site was running as normal on Monday and we’re confident it will continue to do so.

“We have four active sites across North Ayrshire – which equates to one site per 34,500 residents and is well above the national average and statutory requirements.”