Plans are being made to reopen all of Argyll and Bute’s Household Waste Recycling Centres, with the exception of Helensburgh and Lomond, on June 1. This reflects the First Minister’s statement today on the easing of lockdown measures, dependent on the continuing suppression of the COVID-19 virus.
Helensburgh and Lomond will have a temporary facility set up at Helensburgh Pier Head Car Park for the short term. This is to manage traffic safely in what we expect will be a busy time when customer demand to use the centre is high.
All HWRCs, including the temporary facility for Helensburgh and Lomond, will be set up to reduce the risk of COVID-19 among those who use them. This means that there will be changes to how they operate. Detailed management plans are being finalised for each individual site to make sure they run smoothly and safely. These plans will be promoted on the council website and social media channels before reopening.
Centres are also likely to be very busy for the first few days. To avoid the risk of waiting in long queues, and not being able to get into the centres, we would ask residents to use them only if it is absolutely necessary.
This is how we expect the sites will operate:
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Traffic will be managed as you approach and on site;
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There will be a one-way system in place at all sites. There will be clear signage in the centres and on the roads leading to them. We ask that you pay attention to, and follow, the signs;
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It is likely to be busy at the beginning, so you might have to wait longer than usual. Please be patient;
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No more than two people, from the same household, should be in the vehicle;
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Staff will not be able to assist with disposing of the items on site, so make sure you can lift what you bring to dump;
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We will not be able to offer a full service as soon as we open. Containers will be available for the most common materials – domestic/general waste and garden waste. This is to keep people safe and help more people use the site in the early days;
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Vans, trailers and commercial vehicles will not be able to use the site at this time. Again this is to help keep people safe and allow more customers to use the sites in the early days;
We will be reviewing this as time goes on.
Sites opening times will be provided on our website. Last entry to site will be 15 minutes before closing time. This gives time for the vehicles queuing to have the contents unloaded. If you do plan to visit the centre, give yourself plenty of time.
There will be no change to the bin collection schedule at the moment. We are making plans to get back to our normal service of waste and recycling collections and we will let you know in plenty of time when it is about to happen. You can check when your next bin collection is due here: www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/coronavirus/bins
Councillor Robin Currie, Policy Lead for Housing, Roads and Infrastructure Services, said: “We thank residents for being patient while our amenity sites were closed as we waited for national advice on essential travel in Scotland to change. More detailed information on how the sites will operate will be available soon. Please look out for it on social media, our website or sign up for our Keep in the Loop service: http://bit.ly/KeepITLoop “