COUNCIl leaders have unanimously agreed to pause the delivery of a £12m depot project as cash was invested into immediate works at existing sites.

Cabinet members at both Mid Suffolk and Babergh district councils met on Tuesday to discuss pausing plans for a new £12 million shared depot until more details on local government reorganisation and potential boundary changes were available.

According to council papers, the search for an available site for the new depot did not produce any viable results.

However, due to new looming recycling requirements, proposals included committing an extra £600,000 across both councils to improve 'sub-optimal' depots in Stowmarket, Sudbury and Great Wenham.

From April 2026, authorities will need to deliver extra waste collection, including new weekly food waste, twin-stream recycling, and three-weekly residual waste collections, all requiring a larger fleet.

The extra investment, which is expected to extend the sites' lives by at least five years, will be funded through money initially earmarked for works over the coming years.

Cllr Richard Winch, from Mid Suffolk, said the investment would ensure the replacement of the sites was not an immediate problem after unitary authorities were introduced.

He said: "What we're saying is we need [the money] all this year so we can get all the work done, and what's really behind this is that we just need to future-proof ourselves so we don't get in a position where we can't do something."

Cllr Andrew Stringer said: "In an ideal job, we wouldn't want to be here, but given the circumstances that we've got […] we're making the best out of a bad job."

Improvements to the Stowmarket depot, in Creeting Road, will cost an additional £250,000, bringing this year's total bill to £700,000.

Works to this site include reconfiguring the dock level loading bay, refurbishing the office space, a new operational staff welfare and convenience area, reconfiguring parking spaces, bin stores and yard spaces.

In Babergh, the works to the Alexandria Road and Wenham Road sites will cost a total of £495,000, an increase of £350,000 this year, but a significant reduction over five years, initially drawn up at £750,000.

Cllr Alastair McCraw, in Babergh, said: "With local government reorganisation, this is the only thing we could possibly do because we'd have no way of knowing what arrangements might exist.

"This is a stopgap measure, extends the life of our sites for five years and is the obvious thing to do."

The Great Wenham site, the report said, was in a much better condition, due to improvements over recent years, but will still need to have vegetation cut, the storage space reconfigured, and the car park separated.

The Sudbury site, on the other hand, will need improvements to the wash down area, interceptor and drainage systems, increased CCTV and outside repairs and decorations, including office and crew areas.

Fuller details are expected by June, with officers and councillors confident at least half of the money required could come through financial contributions from developers.