We are delighted that officers at Hertfordshire County Council have recommended that the Elstree Recycling Centre should remain open and not close as originally recommended.

When we first heard that this well-used centre was under threat, we started what many believed would be a fruitless campaign to persuade the county council that this would not be in the best interests of the residents of Elstree, Borehamwood and beyond.

The majority of residents felt that the decision was a done deal and that the consultation was just lip-service.

We were quickly joined in this campaign by the Elstree and Borehamwood Residents Association and many concerned residents who spent hours delivering leaflets to homes in our town and handing out flyers day after day at the tip itself.

The campaign took a massive step forward when your paper became involved.

The Borehamwood Times got behind the campaign to help save the site. We must single out Vickiie Oliphant whose reporting was always fair, non-partisan and professional, giving residents the facts without resorting to the sensationalism often linked with the media nowadays.

We showed that as a team united with the aim of doing the best for our area, we could persuade the powers-that-be that this was a centre that was much-used and needed in Hertsmere’s largest town and that its closure could not be justified.

We had more than 2,000 people sign our petition and over a third of those who responded to the whole county consultation resided in our area alone.

The officers listened and we have now saved our centre to enable the residents to help the environment and recycle as much as possible now and in the future. Well done and thank you to all.

Cllrs Morris Bright, Harvey Cohen and Caroline Clapper

Hertsmere Borough Council