Mr Sawers, of Buckfastleigh, writes:

Re: Recycling centre closure, Buckfastleigh.

This suggested closure of Bulley Cleaves was inevitable with the go-ahead from Teignbridge and Devon County Councils' joint decision to allow Gilpin to reopen with recycling facilities at Whitecleave Quarry. Going to Newton Abbot is just a smoke screen to disguise the councils' efforts to endorse the future of large scale commercial recycling at Whitecleave.

As an alternative scenario, Gilpin would probably charge £1.50 to £2 for the private sector and, whereas today's odd trade waste sympathetically might slip in uncharged at the current centre, I predict Gilpin would make sure no-one even drops off a branch without paying for it.

This would lead to wide scale 'fly-tipping' in the surrounding environment such as the local streams and banks costing the council and

Environment agency a small fortune to clean up or, in a cost cutting exercise, leave a mess as Cllr Squires has already brought to our attention.

A new recycling centre would, of course, be just what Gilpin want in their efforts to overcome operating beyond the current hours many Buckfastleigh residents campaigned for, and insisted were enforced in order to maintain a standard of a habitable environment for the surrounding residents.

With opening Saturday and Sunday, we would not only have domestic vehicles accessing Whitecleave but, in a few years time, it would open the way for large commercial trucks to use the facility eight hours a day, seven days a week; possibly even evenings in the summer.

The side effect of this access will inevitably continue to plough up Strode Road as they have done since it was re-surfaced a couple of months ago. Not to mention the road dust residue blown back on Buckfastleigh.

I'm sure many people admire the work in maintaining the current site at Bulley Cleaves, and especially the conditions they work under. I cannot imagine them trying to, or even wanting to endorse a 'dropping off' payment.

Unfortunately, this can only be recognised with that element in society that refuse to pay in car parks but prefer to cause congestion in clogging up residents' streets for parking in and around the town.THIS AND OTHER LETTERS IN OUR ONLINE EDITION