SURREY County Council has launched a consultation on plans to close the Guildford Road recycling centre in Farnham, alongside a raft of other cost-cutting measures to help tackle the “huge” financial pressures facing the authority.

The county council opened a consultation over five main areas of its ‘Vision for Surrey 2030’ transformation programme on Tuesday this week.

This includes proposals to close 31 children’s centres, downgrade many more to ‘satellite’ centres including Potters Gate children’s centre in Farnham, closing between four and six of Surrey’s 15 recycling centres, and transforming Special Educational Needs and Disabilities services.

Charges are also set to be imposed on many “discretionary services” the council currently delivers for free, such as free bus passes for companions of those with disabilities, while libraries and cultural services are also under scrutiny.

Speaking at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, councillors set out the changes proposed and stressed the need for residents to make their views known.

Deputy leader John Furey said it was “absolutely necessary” to make the changes and that it was no longer “viable” to offer free discretionary services.

He added: “There are no choices left simply because government has not invested in Surrey as we invest in our residents.”

The council says it is facing huge financial pressures due to reducing government grant despite growing demand for children’s and adult care services. Despite saving £540m from its annual budget since 2010, Surrey still needs to save more than £200m by 2021.

It is thought the changes could save the council about £400,000 a year.

David Hodge, leader of the county council, said: “We know that some of the things we are proposing will not be popular but we have to look to change how we do things.”

The consultation sets out three possible options for Surrey’s recycling centres, two of which propose closing “six smaller, less-used centres” including Farnham, and investing the savings into the remaining nine centres. According to the council, less than a fifth of waste dropped off in Surrey is handled by these six with the other nine dealing with all the rest.

But responding, Farnham Residents county councillor Andy MacLeod said any suggestion of closing Farnham’s recycling centre was “completely unacceptable”, stressing that Farnham is the third biggest town in Surrey. He added the closure would force Farnham residents to take a one hour round-trip to either Guildford or Camberley to dispose of their waste, which he said would likely result in less recycling and an upsurge in fly-tipping.

Wyatt Ramsdale, the Tory county councillor for Farnham South, stressed the importance of making officers and councillors at Surrey aware of any concerns, but urged residents to “appreciate that the county council is short of funds and will have to make tough decisions”.

He continued: “The shortage of funds results from reductions in central funding, yet at the same time facing massive increases in demand for adult social services and children’s services. Thus Surrey needs to increase efforts to find savings, which it has and is doing, and face the real possibility of having to make cuts to services.

“If cuts have to happen, and I know that none of the Conservative councillors at Surrey want cuts, then all residents should have the opportunity to have a say.”

The consultations close on January 4. Have your say online at surreycc.gov.uk/consultations.