Crowndale Recycling Centre in Tavistock will be open seven days a week from this Sunday (May 17) for essential use only.

When the announcement was made last week that recycling centres would reopen in Devon it specified that Tavistock would only open at weekends but this has now changed.

The government has defined ‘essential use’ as waste that ‘cannot be stored without causing a risk of injury, health or harm to the resident or other members of their household.’

The recycling centre will be open seven days a week and usual hours; 9am – 5pm weekdays and 10am -6pm weekends.

To protect the public and staff a series of health protection measures will be in force, including a one-in one-out policy and two-metre social distancing guidelines.

These measures mean for the time being site staff will not be able to assist with unloading waste and is likely to cause significant delays and queues.

Traffic management will be in place and if queues become too long people will be asked to return later. Residents are advised to postpone their visit where possible.

In addition:

• Residents displaying coronavirus symptoms, are asked not to visit the recycling centres.

• Only cars without trailers, with a maximum of two adults per vehicle, will be permitted on site.

• To keep unloading times to a minimum, trailers, vans, pick-ups and commercial vehicles will not be granted access for the time being.

• Payments on site must be by credit/debit card only

Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Development and Waste, said;

“The safety of the public and staff is our top priority and lengthy waiting times should be expected due to the new restrictions in place.

“If the queues become too long unfortunately, we will have no choice but to ask the public to return at a later date. I would urge residents not to queue on the public highway thereby risking their safety and that of other road users.

“For the time being the recycling centre is for essential use only and we ask that if people cannot store waste at home, they should use the regular kerbside collections for disposal. If, however, the waste is presenting a hazard and there is no other legal way of disposing of it, then they can bring it to Crowndale.

“We are working to restore normal service as soon as it is safe to do so, and we appreciate your patience at this time.”

Councillor Debo Sellis, the local county councillor for Tavistock, said: “The recycling centre from Sunday will be open seven days a week so unless its urgent I would advise the public to delay their visit for a few days at least where possible.

“It would help us better manage initial demand and reduce waiting times.”