Recycling tip to reopen when it can be managed
ASHBOURNE’S recycling centre could reopen in a few weeks, according to Derbyshire County Council, which says it is working on measures to open all its household waste sites as soon as possible.
The authority is waiting on agreement from the government to class trips to recycling centres as “essential”, and will also work on ensuring queues can be managed effectively.
Councils across the county closed their recycling centres immediately following the national lockdown in response to the coronavirus outbreak and said they would not reopen “until further notice”.
At the same time, district and borough councils, including Derbyshire Dales District Council, announced a restricted kerbside waste collection as contractors got to grips with new ways of working safely.
In the Dales, kerbside collections of food waste, recyclable waste and general household waste, is now being collected as normal - but garden waste collections are still suspended.
The county council says it is aiming to reopen household waste recycling centres, including Mayfield Road in Ashbourne, as soon as possible.
Councillor Simon Spencer, Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: “We are doing all we can to get our Household Waste Recycling Centres re-open as soon as we can, but this is going to take a few weeks, rather than a few days.
“I know many people would like to see our centres open and I’d like to thank them for their patience and understanding.
“Before we re-open we need to make sure we consider all of the practicalities, like putting social distancing measures in place, and make sure that our contractors can deal with the waste that people bring into us, many of whom have been closed since lockdown started.
“We’re pulling all the stops out to make this happen as quickly as possible, and as soon as we can confirm a date we will let people know.
“We will also need to work with the police as we will need their agreement for plans to manage the traffic around many of our sites, especially those next to major roads.
“And we need the government to make it clear that visiting a site is classed as an essential journey.
“We’ll also be continuing our discussions with our colleagues in the districts and boroughs to make sure that before we do reopen they are on top of all the kerbside collections, so there should no need to bring excess normal domestic waste to our centres.
“We are also consulting with our neighbouring county councils to see if we can all open on the same date, which will avoid people from one area visiting another.”