Booking system to be removed for Wiltshire Household Recycling Centres
It comes after residents were asked to have their say on the current way of operating
Household Recycling Centres in Wiltshire will return to non-booked visits only, when social distancing requirements end in England.
That date is currently proposed to be the 19th of July, but could be delayed due to any public health requirements at the time.
Wiltshire Council are planning to stop the online booking system, which has been in place since March 2020, the week before the return to non-booked visits.
This means that people will then be able to visit any of the council owned sites, like the one on Churchfields Industrial Estate in Salisbury, during their normal opening hours.
In March 2021, the local authority asked residents to have their say on the current system.
Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Waste, said:
"The HRC online booking system was always intended to be a temporary measure, so we could manage the number of people on site at any one time to ensure effective social distancing to keep staff and residents safe.
We have listened to residents who have shared their concerns about the booking system, and coinciding with the further lifting of national COVID restrictions, we've decided to remove it.
In the next month, so long as Government restrictions are eased and public health guidance allows, people will be able to attend their chosen site at a time of their choosing without needing to book a slot online.
In order to ensure a smooth transition, and so long as the Government confirms that social distancing will be ended nationally, on 12 July the online booking system will stop taking new bookings, and on 19 July, visits without a booking will resume.
If the Government decides not to end all restrictions on this date, the dates for returning HRCs to non-booked visits will also change, and we will update with more information on this as soon as we are able to provide confirmation."
Some of the HRCs in Wiltshire take different types of waste to others, so people are being asked to check online before setting off.
Anyone looking to pre-book a visit can do so via the Wiltshire Council website.