Plans to reopen Sugden End Recycling Centre near Keighley have been confirmed, with Bradford Council allocating £400,000 from culture funding. This move comes as communities across West Yorkshire report difficulties in disposing of waste due to fewer local facilities.
Residents in Ilkley and Birstall are among those affected. Steve Walker, 70, from Ilkley, undertakes a 40-minute round trip to Keighley Household Waste Recycling Centre, despite living closer to a facility in Menston which he states discourages use by non-residents. The Golden Butts recycling site in Ilkley, which Walker previously used, closed in 2024 as part of cost-cutting measures by the then Labour authority at Bradford Council and has since been sold to a housing developer.
Concerns over increased fly-tipping following the closures appear to have been realised. Government figures show that reports of fly-tipping in the Bradford Council area increased from 18,456 in 2023-24 to 19,697 in 2024-25. Bradford Council is currently investigating a fly-tipping incident on Ilkley Moor discovered earlier this month.
Bosses at the Reform UK-led Bradford Council are actively seeking a new tip provision in Ilkley but cannot provide a timetable for its return. Ilkley councillors have requested that Wheatley Grange Farm not be sold without retaining part of the site for a potential replacement centre. Meanwhile, in Birstall, a campaign continues to restore the tip on Nab Lane, which Kirklees Council closed as part of its own cost-cutting measures. Councillor Joshua Sheard is challenging Kirklees Council to follow Bradford's example and reinstate the facility.