Council leaders have defended their plan to close a Norfolk recycling centre, despite more than 90pc of people who took part in consultation saying it should be spared the axe.
Norfolk County Council will next month decide whether to shut Mayton Wood Recycling Centre, near Coltishall, to save £70,000.
Officers at the council are recommending that members of the Conservative-led cabinet agree to close the centre, saying usage has dropped since Norwich North Recycling Centre, off the Northern Distributor Road, opened.
Almost 900 people responded to County Hall's six-week summer consultation over its plans to shut the site, with more than 90pc against the closure.
But Andrew Jamieson, the council's deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, said he would be voting for the centre's closure - and urged people to see the bigger picture.
He said: "We have just spent £2.24m on a new waste disposal site just down the road. That is key to this.
"This is what the council needs to do - to spend money carefully to improve services for all residents across Norfolk as a whole.
"We should not litter the county with a lot of obsolete buildings after we have built new ones.
"£70,000 might not seem that much, but in the programme of new recycling centres, the next ones to be upgraded are North Walsham and Sheringham.
READ MORE: Norfolk recycling centres could introduce time slots
"The money we save by closing Mayton Wood, we can spent on the development of the new sites."
Dan Roper, Liberal Democrat county councillor for Hevingham and Spixworth, previously said Mayton Wood was the seventh most used of 20 tips in Norfolk - and should stay open.
Mr Jamieson said he could understand the frustration of people who responded to the consultation wanting the centre to remain open, only for the council to stick with its closure plan.
But he said: "I think when people look at the rationale in the cold light of day, they will say 'okay, here's a saving which will be used to upgrade other sites'."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here