COUNTY chiefs have agreed to forge ahead with Swanage’s planned £2.8m state-of-the art household recycling centre.

The decision, made by Dorset County Council’s cabinet yesterday, brings an end to weeks of speculation that the project might be scrapped.

County councillors, who are struggling to claw back up to £40m from their three-year budget, were asked to consider their backing for the Swanage scheme in light of current financial constraints.

The project, which will see the new recycling centre at Swanage’s Prospect Business Park replace the existing site at Panorama Road, has already cost £481,586.

County council environment cabinet member Cllr Robert Gould said: “These are challenging times. In the coming months we are going to have to make some very tough decisions about the way we run services across the organisation.

“However, we are committed to providing a new household recycling centre to serve the people of Swanage and we’ve already made significant investment in this project.”

Cllr Gould said cancellation at this stage would incur additional costs and would not represent value for money.

He added: “The new centre will cost around £50,000 less a year to run compared to the current centre.”

The Panorama Road facility is due to close next year – coinciding with the planned opening of the new site.

Before the current budget crisis, the county said it was committed to achieving a 60 per cent recycling rate in Dorset by 2015/16.

Cllr Gould said: “There is a lot of local support for the new household recycling centre and by improving the recycling facilities, we’re confident that this will increase the amount of household waste recycled and composted in Swanage.”