Announcing the plans for greater access to the sites, the council said that the decision will also help increase recycling as more householders will be able to use them. When height restrictions were imposed in a bid to reduce the amount of commercial and industrial waste it generated a “big postbag of complaints”. The barriers will raised by about four inches (100millimetres) from their current height of 5ft 9 inches (1.75 metres). Previously if their vehicles were too high, the residents had to park outside and take materials in.
A statement from the council said: “The easing of vehicle restrictions will be in place for next Easter. When the work has been carried out the new heights will be clearly signed. However, the onus will still be on individual drivers to ensure their vehicles can safely pass underneath the barrier.”
Pick-up type vehicles will continue to be banned from entering the sites as these are mostly used for commercial waste, which the height barriers are designed to help exclude.
The decision is part of a county council drive to improve services and encourage people to recycle even more materials by making the popular sites more attractive and user-friendly.
Planning approval
Before the idea of extended opening hours is confirmed planning approval will have to obtained. Kent's cabinet member for strategic planning, Sarah Hohler, said: “The County Council wants to persuade residents to recycle as much material as possible to avoid excess household waste going to landfill or incineration. So far, their response has been magnificent with the sites recycling 55% of all the waste that they receive. Making the sites easier to use should provide even more encouragement.
She continued: “The height barriers were introduced at KCC recycling centres some years ago to stop trade waste being taken in and disposed of at the public’s expense. Inevitably, the restriction has inconvenienced some residents with larger vehicles and we have kept this under review. I have decided now is the right time to relax the restriction, coinciding with the programme of improvements we are planning for the sites.”
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