Six new Devon recycling centres planned

But you may have to wait 15 years

Devon could be set to get six new recycling centres to replace ones ‘not fit-for-purpose' - but it could take 15 years.

Devon County Council’s cabinet is to be asked to endorse a vision to modernise the current centres. Newton Abbot, Barnstaple, Tiverton, Honiton, Totnes and Kingsbridge, and Tavistock are identified in a report as areas where new centres are needed – with the cabinet also to be asked to approve plans for a new household waste recycling centre in Tavistock.

In her report, Meg Booth, chief officer for highways, infrastructure development and waste, says: “There are still several older household waste recycling centre sites across Devon that are no longer fit for purpose and not suited to modern demands, leading to health and safety concerns and increasingly higher levels of customer dissatisfaction.

“The main factors include sites having to temporarily close to allow the accumulated waste to be safely loaded and transported off site, vehicles regularly queuing, particularly in a dangerous manner on the Public Highway, to access sites either during peak times or when a container is being replaced, restricted layouts particularly at some smaller sites, which makes recycling inconvenient and pedestrian conflict with vehicles leading to health and safety concerns."

Sites at Holsworthy, Bideford, Torrington, Exeter, Ivybridge, Ilfracombe, Exmouth, South Molton, Okehampton, Crediton, and Sidmouth are considered adequate for the next 15 years. Only in Tavistock has a replacement site so far been identified, but sites identified for improvement are:

Tavistock 

The existing facility at Crowndale was developed next to the old landfill site which closed over 30 years ago. The site is physically constrained and must be closed to enable containers to be replaced, and leads to significant queuing problems on the public highway raising health and safety concerns and complaints.

Newton Abbot 

The existing Brunel Road facility is the busiest in Devon, but as waste has to be loaded from bay areas into HGVs which have to access public areas, parts of the site have to close temporarily leading to significant queuing problems and frustrated users. The existing site is not big enough and existing problems will become exacerbated as the local area continues to be developed.

Cullompton, Tiverton and Willand area – plans for a combined new site

The current small centre at Ashley, Tiverton is no longer able to meet the current demands, and further housing is planned for Tiverton, Cullompton and Willand including potentially a new garden village. The current site arose as ancillary to the landfill site which closed over 30 years ago, and popped have to climb steps to place their waste into skips. The site has tot close to replace containers and there is a high degree of pedestrian and vehicle conflict. It is poorly configured, suffers from queuing issues and is inadequate to cope with significant housing growth that is occurring/proposed in the area. A new, large joint facility covering the growth areas of Tiverton, Cullompton and Willand is proposed.

Honiton

The existing facility at Sutton Barton is small, constrained and suffers significant queuing problems albeit off the public highway. There are health and safety concerns with vulnerable people accessing skips via steps, and the site is very remote from the main population centre that it serves. A new facility in the Honiton area is therefore proposed.

Kingsbridge, Totnes, Dartmouth – plans for a combined new site

The existing facility at Totnes is the smallest in Devon and suffers queuing issues, while the existing Kingsbridge site at Torr Quarry is also not ideal and vehicles have to queue whilst waste is being compacted and skips changed. Dartmouth has had no recycling centre since the ‘Rural Skip’ provision was removed as part of budget reductions in 2011, and as such, a large new facility jointly serving all three communities is proposed.

Barnstaple 

The site at Seven Brethren (Barnstaple) is outdated and poorly configured and significant housing growth that is occurring/proposed in the area is also impacting on capacity which will get worse over time. While the site manages to just cope at present, it is envisaged that a new site will be required towards the end of the 10-15-year period.