RECYCLING centres will reopen when police are on board with the plan, said the leader of the borough council.
Speaking to Wokingham.Today, Cllr John Halsall confirmed this evening that re3 recycling centres in Bracknell and Reading will re-open when Thames Valley Police approve travel to and from the sites.
“We are working to open them as soon as possible, with safety measures for residents and staff,” said Cllr Halsall. “We are still waiting on agreement from the police, as they currently view this as non-essential travel.”
The announcement comes as recycling centres in Manchester opened to the public this weekend.
But Cllr Halsall said that resident safety was their top priority.
“Lots of people will want them to reopen,” he said. “Which will cause huge queues and there will be problems.
“So instead we will be launching a booking system. People will be given a slot and this will manage the number of visitors at one time.
“We don’t have a huge amount of space for large queues so this must be in place.
“And if people are left waiting for too long, this could increase incidents of fly-tipping.”
Cllr Halsall also praised the continued waste collection services across the borough.
“In Wokingham, we have maintained all waste collections, including the green waste bins. And we have shifted staff from re3 centres to the green collections to keep these running.”
He added: “The police are still arresting people for non-essential travel, until we come to an agreement with them, the recycling centres will not open.”
