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21 January 2009
Posted in
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News from RFW
Important Information about Warminster HRC
The Warminster HRC is operated by Wiltshire County Council’s waste contractor Hills Waste Solutions Ltd and is on land which formally housed a gas works. The county council bought the site in 1964.
West Wiltshire District Council, as enforcing authority for contaminated land, has identified the site and adjacent land owned by National Grid as ‘contaminated’ land due to its historic use. The county council, as current owner, is responsible for dealing with the contamination.
What is happening now:
On Monday January 26, engineers working for the county council will begin a final series of tests on the current household recycling centre. These will determine the extent of the contamination and so allow the council to work out what kind of remedial work is needed.These will involve drilling boreholes. It should take a week and be completed by Friday January 30. After that there will be two months of emissions monitoring.During this time the HRC will be open and available for use as normal.However, our consultants have advised us that it is possible that drilling the boreholes might lead to some subsidence which could make parts of the site dangerous for the public. If that happens we will need to shut the site immediately and tackle the problem.We are issuing information to yourselves and the wider public to let them know the situation and have plans to alert people should the site shut. Further information is below.
What if Warminster HRC has to temporarily shut at short notice?
We may only get a few hours notice that the site has to shut so we are putting out information now so people can be prepared. That includes issuing advice on site and putting information up on our web site and letting local authorities know.If the site does shut then we will make every effort to alert people. We expect any closure to last no longer than a few days.The alternatives for people to recycle are HRCs at Canal Road in Trowbridge and London Road in Devizes. There are also mini recycling centres spread out across the district.We ask for people to be patient in case demand at these sites means we can’t offer as good a service as we would like.Addresses for these alternative facilities are below.It should be emphasised that if the site shuts it will not be because of any contamination but because of subsidence.
What is happening with the planning application?
The county council has decided that the best long term solution is to build a new recycling centre close by on the highways depot. The new site will be of comparable size and have the same facilities.Once it has opened the council can undertake a clean-up of the contaminated land. Once the site has been cleaned up, the council will consider what it plans to do with it.The planning application for this has been submitted and is expected to come before Wiltshire County Council in March.
It is important to emphasise that our aim remains to keep disruption to a minimum and to continue to offer residents a full recycling service.
Recycling facilities:
The address for Devizes HRC is:Hopton Industrial Estate
London Road
Devizes
SN10 2EU For Trowbridge HRC it is:Canal Road Industrial Estate
Trowbridge
BA14 8RQ Both are open from 9am to 4pm, seven days a week. They take the same materials as Warminster HRC. There are mini recycling centres in the following locations in Warminster:Central car park on Station Road (takes paper, glass, tin cans, textiles, plastic bottles and cardboard)Conservative Club on Boreham Road (takes paper, glass and tin cans)Hollybush Road opposite Cotswold Close (takes plastic bottles and cardboard)Masons Arms on East Street (takes paper, glass and tin cans)Western car park on Sambourne Road (takes paper, glass, tin cans and textiles)
If you have any other queries or questions about the the tests please do not hesitate to contact the Council's Waste Management Team on - 01225 756559 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it