The plans were approved by Surrey county council on Tuesday (26 November 2024) despite 93% of consultation respondents disproving of the move.
The public consultation was open between 16 September and 11 October and received 1,079 responses.
Additionally, two separate petitions urging the council to keep the site open received 2,000 signatures ahead of the vote.
The council said that the site is being closed as it is “hard to get to, outdated, too small to be upgraded and has been attracting anti-social behaviour”. It added that this included vandalism, fly tipping and unlawful entry at the site.
The council told the BBC that staff had also been threatened by some users who tried to bring unacceptable materials to the site.
Residents have been redirected to alternative recycling sites Camberley, Lyne and Woking. 76% of people who responded said they would use the alternative sites.
The Bagshot centre currently receives approximately 920 visits a week.
The council said that residents have objected to the plan on grounds of the inconvenience of travelling to another site, a fear there would be increased queues at other sites and the potential jump in local fly tipping.
It added that, despite this, its experience shows that previous changes to sites, including reduced opening hours and days, have not resulted in more fly tipping incidents.
Subscribe for free