CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save a tip earmarked for closure are optimistic about its future after a huge response to their petition.

Delyth Armes, 58, who runs Senners Newsagents in Ongar High Street, set up a petition after hearing that Essex County Council planned to close the household waste dump near the town by October as part of cost-cutting measures.

She said at least 500 people had signed the petition against the closure of the dump in Mill Lane, High Ongar, since she set it up last month.

Residents fear the area will be targeted by fly-tippers if the tip closes and object to the long car journeys they will have to make to get to the nearest alternative at Brentwood.

“Everyone in the shop knows what it’s about and we’re still getting people in saying they need to sign it,” said Mrs Armes. “At the last count, there were more than 500 signatures and I imagine there are 700 or 800 by now.”

Gerald McEwen, county councillor for Ongar, said he now hopes the tip at High Ongar will stay open after a meeting between parish councillors and Kevin Bentley, the cabinet member responsible for waste and recycling last night (Monday).

“There was a chance to thrash it out,” he said. “I think the major argument I’m putting forward is the fact that it does mean a lot of extra miles for people to travel.”

He now hopes the council’s cabinet will decide to keep the tip running with reduced opening hours, as it plans to do with those at Chigwell and Waltham Abbey, at its next meeting in two weeks’ time.

If that does not happen, he said he would present the petition to the council at a future meeting in October.

“I’m keeping it as my secret weapon,” he said. “By then, there will be over 1,000 signatures.”

When it announced the closures, the council said they would improve efficiency and ensure residents had access to tips when they needed them.

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