New Quay Town Council has warned that there will “undoubtedly be fly tipping” on roads and private land if plans to close a waste site near Llanarth get the go-ahead.

Ceredigion County Council launched a public consultation which ended on Monday, 4 August following last year’s decision to close one of its four Household Waste Sites and review the opening hours at the other sites.

The council said the changes are set to encourage residents to make the ‘full and proper use’ of its recycling facilities.

Ceredigion currently has four waste sites: Kilmaenllwyd near Cardigan, Glanyrafon Industrial Estate near Aberystwyth, Lampeter, and Rhydeinon near Llanarth.

The consultation says Glanyrafon is the only site in the north, with the preference to keep it open, with Kilmaenllwyd providing a southern facility; Rhydeinon and Lampeter having the greatest overlap.

The plan to close Rhydeinon however has been slated by New Quay Town Council in its response to the consultation.

The town council said that “Rhydeinon is important in the area as is substantially used by residents.”

“We understand the closest sites to the area are Aberystwyth, Cardigan and Lampeter,” the council said.

“Cardigan and Aberystwyth site is 20 miles from this site and Lampeter is 18 miles.

“Currently, there is a great emphasis on carbon footprint, therefore this will go against this target as residents will be expected to drive further to dispose of their waste.

“There will undoubtedly be fly tipping on our roads and private land, and so the burden to address this issue will be placed on land owners who pay their taxes and do not deserve to have to deal with this additional problem.

“Our countryside will also pay dearly for this with rubbish being left everywhere, which in turn will affect the beauty of the area and have a detrimental impact on the tourism industry.”

Ceredigion County Council announced the plan to shut Rhydeinon earlier this year just days after announcing residents will be limiting to three black bags every three weeks during collections.

The council has outlined savings of £100,000 to come from the budget of £1.5m used to operate the four sites.

The consultation contains the preferred option of closing Rhydeinon while keeping the other three open with the same opening hours.

Waste sites in Cilmaenllwyd, Glanyrafon and Lampeter are currently open every weekday from 9am to 5pm, and 10am to 3pm on weekends and Bank Holidays.

The site at Rhydeinon is currently open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm.

Consultation documents say that if Rhydeinon is closed, then opening hours would remain the same at Cilmaenllwyd, Glanyrafon and Lampeter.

The council consultation says: “We feel that suspending use of Rhydeinon site and maintaining opening hours at the other sites would have the least amount of impact on residents.

“It is proposed to suspend use of the Rhydeinon Household Waste Site, until such time as the review of the Council’s waste services is complete, and a longer-term strategy for the Council’s Household Waste Sites is developed.”