Swindon Borough Council wants to charge neighbouring Wiltshire a staggering £1 million a year for residents to use its recycling centre.
Wiltshire Council's cabinet member for waste has called the proposal "totally unaffordable," but says negotiations between the two local authorities will continue.
Swindon has one household recycling centre - at Cheney Manor Industrial Estate, in the north west of the town. Address checks mean Wiltshire Council taxpayers are unable to use it.
However, the meeting heard that Swindon residents are recycling their rubbish at Wiltshire Council's Purton site because an electronic booking system is not currently in place, although visitors might be asked for postal ID.
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In December 2025, Wiltshire Council leaders took a sudden decision to close the household recycling centres in Purton and at Lower Compton, near Calne, saying their operator - Swindon-based Hills Waste Solutions - was asking for too much money to continue the service.
Knowing an alternative was years away, Wiltshire Council opened negotiations with Swindon for residents in the north of the county to use the urban council's facilities.
In February this year, the council signed a three-year deal with Hills, giving it breathing space to find a site for, and construct, a new waste facility somewhere in the area of Royal Wootton Bassett.
Meanwhile, negotiations with Dorset Council are also taking place in the far South West of the county, where residents would rather use the recycling centre in Shaftsbury, which is closer to their homes.
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Dorset, revealed Wiltshire Council cabinet member Paul Sample, wanted to charge Wiltshire Council £200,000 a year for its residents to use the HRC.
"A £1 million deal with Swindon would be totally unaffordable," Cllr Sample told a meeting of Wiltshire Council's Cabinet on Wednesday, April 29.
"And "the idea that we might stump up another £200,000 to resolve the issue with Dorset is also totally unaffordable."
Cllr Sample added that if cross-border arrangements were entered into with the other five neighbouring local authorities, "the cost could be seven, eight, or nine million pounds - a completely unacceptable charge on residents and not possible in my view."
In related waste news, Cllr Sample said more than 6,200 people had participated in a survey about future waste services, which he said was "one of the most successful public engagement sessions that the council has had in many years."
And 80,000 residents had signed up for green waste collection in 2025/6, generating "record income."
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