HOPE has been extinguished that there will be any last-minute reprieve for Buckfastleigh's recycling centre.

The valued amenity at Bulley Cleaves quarry is due to close at the end of this month.

County councillor Stuart Barker had hoped to broker a deal to keep the centre open one day a week. But high running costs made the plan a non-starter, even though operator Julian Sanders was willing to make big savings.

'I have to admit I'm a bit stumped on this one,' Cllr Barker admitted to the Advertiser.

As an interim solution he is pressing for manned skips to be sited in the town.

He told Ashburton Town Council that he is also looking at the potential for a community recycling centre at Whitecleaves, Buckfastleigh's other quarry, if MVV Umwelt is successful in its bid to recycle ash there.

The German waste disposal company wants to build a multi-million pound waste-to-energy plant in Plymouth and transport 56,000 tonnes of 'bottom ash' to Buckfastleigh to be processed into building materials. That end of the operation would be contracted out to Gilpin Demolition Ltd.

MVV Umwelt has submitted a scoping document to Devon County Council setting out their plans. The county council, the Environment Agency and other bodies have eight weeks to specify what environmental studies and data they want the company to supply as part of their planning application.

Cllr Barker said: 'Obviously I don't know what is going to happen and I don't want to pre-empt that. If they are bringing waste up from Plymouth and taking back empty lorries, we could suggest in the planning application that there might be a community benefit required.

'It's not about supporting them but we have to be ready with conditions in case they get it,' he said.

Meanwhile, large numbers of residents are expected to attend tonight's public meeting at St Luke's Church, at 7.30pm. Although the details are unclear, residents were given an indication of what to expect in an exhibition held by MVV at the church last month.

Peter Thornhill, secretary of the Buckfastleigh Quarry Action Group said: 'It is hoped that representatives of a wide spectrum of Buckfastleigh organisations will be involved in a new group, which would examine the implications of the application when it is submitted.

Organisations have already been asked to put forward a representative. 

Meanwhile, Buck The Trend, the town's eco-group, and the town council, is conducting a survey on what recycling facilities residents would like to see. From tomorrow, survey forms will be available at Bulley Cleaves recycling centre, Huccabys News in Buckfastleigh and Buckfastleigh Library. The survey can also be filled in online at http://www.buckthetrend.info/recycling-survey">www.buckthetrend.info/recycling-survey.