THE cost of making and reversing the changes to Renfrewshire's amenity sites is set to cost Renfrewshire taxpayers almost £300,000.

It was announced earlier this month that the decision to reduce the sites, which took effect in June, is to be reversed, with full service to be restored in the coming months.

However questions were being raised over the money that was used to downgrade the soon to be reinstated amenity sites in Renfrewshire.

Renfrewshire Council's original proposal to reduce facilities at the four sites was to save £150,000 of taxpayers’ money every year with no jobs lost.

Now, the cost of making and then reversing the change will be approximately £281,000 which includes money spent on CCTV cameras and fencing which will continue to be used on site or elsewhere.

The changes will be funded from the council’s Strategic Waste Fund Reserve.

It is expected to take a couple of months for the Renfrew, Erskine, Johnstone and Linwood sites to be fully restored to their previous way of working.

That timescale includes investment in new compactors at each of the four sites as Renfrewshire Council claims that the current equipment was nearing the end of its working life.

All the sites will continue to remain open and operating on their current basis until then.

SNP MSP Derek Mackay has since branded the closure of the Renfrew, Erskine, Johnstone and Linwood sites as a 'fiasco'.

Mr Mackay said: "It was clear from day one that the plans to effectively close these sites was a bad one, and one in which the public was never going to accept.

"However, Labour pressed ahead with the plans, plans which they could have scrapped at any point. Instead their stubbornness has cost the tax payer over quarter of a million pounds in closing and now re-opening the sites.

"Now let’s be very clear, that is a waste of £281,000 which could have been totally avoided.

"This whole fiasco was avoidable from the start and their bad management and failure to stop the changes when it become clear it was not workable has resulted in £281,000 being effectively flushed down the toilet.

"Labour can not keep attempting to blame the Scottish Government for their bad decisions and poor foresight, nor can they keep saying ‘just give us more money’, when they are completely wasting the money that they have got.

"Labour have been ploughing millions of pounds into their pet projects whilst starving roads and the environment of the necessary resources, partly why they ended up in such a mess over the amenity sites in the first place. A mess which has now resulted in something which was created to apparently save £150,000 a year, now costing £281,000.”

Mhairi Black MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South has also backed Mr Mackay's views and is shocked by the costs involved in the changes.

Ms Black said: "This U-turn by Labour will be welcomed by those communities who lost their recycling centres and had to travel to Underwood Road in Paisley to join the long queues of people wanting to do their bit for recycling.

"There is a concern that some people were put off recycling by the queues at Underwood Road and have started to fly tip, it may take a long time to get people back into the habit of using the civic amenity sites.

"The cost for this move is staggering. I is astonishing that this Labour administration complain about a lack of funds when they have blown nearly £300,000 on this move! That is money that should have been spent on improving communities not covering the cost of their failed decision making.

"According to the council the downscaling of the 4 civic amenity sites was meant to save about £150,000 over a full year, yet thanks to the incompetence of Labour its now costing nearly £300,000.

"I'm sure the people of Renfrewshire will make clear their dismay at such a waste of money when the council elections come around in May next year."

The Gazette previously reported massive queues at the Underwood Road dump and increased flytipping in the area as a result of the changes.

Residents grew increasingly infuriated at the changes and a petition to reinstate the original facilities, which amassed 3,000 signatures, was set up by members of the Renfrew Community Council.

However the council confirmed that it would restore all four sites to their previous way of working saying it had ‘listened and responded to community concerns.’

Renfrewshire Council Leader Mark Macmillan said: "The original changes were introduced as part of the council’s need to make budget savings because of the cuts imposed on Renfrewshire by the Scottish Government.

"For example last year Renfrewshire Council received the biggest ever cut in funding.

"Against that background, we tried to strike a balance by continuing to keep recycling facilities in local areas albeit with a reduced level of service.

"On this occasion, We have listened to public were saying and we have responded and begun the work to restore all the local recycling services.

"As for Derek Mackay, rather than criticising a genuine attempt to make savings that were forced on the council by him, he would be better concentrating on the £14 million cash cuts that the Scottish Government has made to vital public services in Renfrewshire during the lifetime of this council."

Residents and councillors of affected areas believe that the changes "should never have happened".

They also believe that community spirit and the power of the people were the main driving force behind reinstating the changes.

Councillor Eddie Devine, Convener of Renfrewshire Council's Environment Policy Board however admitted that the local authority accepts that there were issues with the changes.

Mr Devine said: "The council has been faced with some very tough decisions.

"That is directly due to the persistent underfunding of Renfrewshire which amounts to a shortfall of £18million each and every year.

"With the limited funds available to us, the current council has prioritised protecting vital frontline services as well as taking forward ambitious programmes to increase the opportunities for our people and our communities including: tacking poverty, investing in schools, regenerating our town centres and the Paisley 2021 bid.

"Against that background, we tried an approach to recycling which still maintained local facilities but delivered a small amount of the savings we have to find.

"However, we accept that there were concerns about those changes.

"The key point is that we have listened and responded quickly to those concerns.

"Over the next few months we will reinstate recycling services in line with public expectations.

"This approach of listening to the public and acting on what they have said is an approach that Mr Mackay could learn from.

"Who can forget the way the SNP slashed the budget for school buses and bulldozed through measures that were unacceptable to parents?

"Who can forget the SNP’s drive to bring in unemployed people to teach local children or their closure of South Primary School?

"We have consistently put education first and I am certain there is no-one who would argue with that in terms of priorities."