Dundee’s Riverside Recycling Centre has been shut for more than a month in the last two years due to flooding, new figures have revealed.
The facility has been repeatedly affected by wet weather, forcing locals to use the city’s only other centre at Baldovie, seven miles away, instead.
Data obtained by The Courier has now revealed the extent of the closures at Riverside.
Since February 2021, the centre – which reopened on Sunday following its latest shutdown – has been closed for a combined total of about 33 days because of flooding.
The closures include:
- February 5-February 13 2021 – nine days
- May 24 2021 – three hours
- August 9 2021 – three hours
- September 7 2022 – three hours
- November 18-November 30 2022 – 13 days
- December 28 2022 – one day
- December 30 2022-January 8 2023 – nine days
The last closure before February 2021 happened in May 2013.
The council has spent about £2,400 in that time trying to alleviate flooding issues at the site.
Gary Langlands, West End Community Council chairman, believes the closures are leading to fly-tipping.
He said:Â “While in no way does the community council condone fly-tipping, to have the only recycling centre on this side of the city regularly being closed is only encouraging the public to do the wrong thing.
“We’ve seen examples of large items such as sofas dumped at the Eurobins as well as other fly-tipping incidents.
“The public are right to be concerned and the problem really does now need to be addressed with more urgency as it’s been going on far too long.”
Councillor Fraser MacPherson, who represents the West End, has long called for the flooding issues to be addressed.
He said: “It’s unfair to expect the many thousands who rely on the centre to have to put up with the continuous stream of closures.
“We have to accept that Riverside sits in low-lying land but it’s vital that a permanent solution is found.”
A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said: “An initial site survey has been carried out to identify further mitigations, including a review of the existing drainage runs and flood alleviation pumps.
“Any works that are required will be completed as soon as practicable.”
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