A ‘ludicrous situation’ which is leaving residents queuing at the county’s recycling centres after reduced opening hours were introduced, has been slammed by Carnoustie councillors who were met with locked gates after they had taken part in a beach clean-up.
Independent Carnoustie councillors David Cheape, Brian Boyd and SNP councillor Mark McDonald spoke out after they joined volunteers and Carnoustie Community Council on a beach clean-up to remove winter debris.
Mr Cheape said: “To save cost to the council in sending a vehicle to collect the rubbish from the Station Road car park, I and my fellow councillors decided to take the debris direct to the skips.
“However, we and a number of other cars were kept waiting, some for almost 30 minutes, in the middle of the day’s opening hours.
“I’m told this is a regular occurrence and that our skips are also being filled by many from Dundee and surrounding areas in vans who are restricted in the number of visits they can make to their own recycling yards.
“I would encourage the Angus administration to take this into account as and when they get round to reviewing again recycling needs throughout Angus.
“If this is to continue Carnoustie is going to have to increase its hours of opening. I would also encourage them to consult, properly this time, site operatives and listen to what they suggest about access to the skips.
“Having spent some time again today with the guys on duty at Carnoustie they have some good ideas for better control at the yards.”
Recycling centre closures and reduced opening hours has been a thorny issue for the coalition administration since its inception, with one senior councillor resigning from the ruling group citing the row over closures as a significant factor in his decision.
Mr Boyd said: “I’ve had numerous complaints about this, and the situation needs to be addressed.
“We currently have a perfect storm of reduced opening hours, coupled with unannounced closures for site maintenance, leaving people locked outside and causing lengthy queues to form.
“My understanding is that this happens regularly, and it’s happening at other recycling centres too.
“The fact is that the administration is urging people to do more, but then fails to meet them half-way.
“It is a ludicrous situation when the sites are operating on substantially reduced hours, that they are then closed for maintenance.
“This needs to be sorted out, and if it can’t, then the sites should be opened for longer.”
An Angus Council spokesperson said: “To ensure the safety of staff and public, we must close the recycling centre so that full skips can be emptied. This will happen more frequently during peak times and we apologise for any inconvenience to people using the site.”
Mr Cheape added:“I would also like to remind Carnoustie residents that from April, the Carnoustie recycling yard will open on a Wednesday until 7pm to help meet the needs of residents wishing to use the yard in the lighter evenings and after core office hours.”
