Residents hit out further delays to opening of Kibworth tip which has undergone £5million in renovations

Further delays to the opening of a local tip have been met with anger from residents.

People have taken to social media to complain the recently renovated Kibworth Recycling and Household Waste is still not open, after more than a year with its gates locked.

The site has been closed since November 2021 as part of a £5million facelift, which aimed to expand and modernise the waste facility. It is one of Leicestershire County Council’s 14 recycling and household waste sites and can be found off the A6 Harborough Road, south of the village.

The council had hoped that the site would be opened towards the end of 2022, but extra refurbishments caused delays and meant that it would be opened “early in the new year.” This has left local residents frustrated and many are calling on the council to answer when the site will open.

Angry resident, Richard Nichols, said on Twitter: “Please can you explain what your interpretation of ‘early in the new year’ is? Still waiting for Kibworth tip to reopen. Wondering what charges will be imposed on the unsuspecting public when it does.

Simon Kempster added on Facebook: “When is Kibworth’s new five million quid, plus extras, super tip going to open, just drove past and it’s lit up like the Blackpool illuminations, nobody there and gates are bolted after the county council have said they have to save money by dimming the street lighting in the village and have no money to fix the roads. Makes you wonder where they’re coming from.”

The improvements being made at the site include the creation of a multilevel site which will allow for more bays to be put in place, removing step access for better accessibility, and ensuring a better flow of traffic movement through the site. The council have pointed people in the direction of alternative waste sites in Market Harborough and Oadby to dispose of their rubbish.

In response to the delays, a spokesperson from the county council said: “While the majority of work on site has been completed, we are still awaiting the permit from the Environment Agency which is required before the site can open. We are also waiting for mains power connection.

“It is anticipated that these issues will be resolved in the near future and an opening date can be announced very soon. While these issues have taken longer to resolve than initially anticipated, this has not caused additional costs to the project.”

Other annoyed locals suggested that the long closure of the local tip may be contributing towards a rise of fly tipping in the area. Speaking on Twitter, Elaine Vandelli called on local MP, Neil O’Brien, to “have a word to get the waste disposal unit open on the A6 in Kibworth”.

She said: “Then people will stop fly tipping. It’s not rocket science, people have waste to get rid of so they dump it in the country as there is nowhere else to dump it.”