Police may be needed to manage queues when tips re-open

Councils should be confident to reopen tips ‘as soon as possible’, a senior Government minister has said, but there have been warnings that protective equipment for waste workers and proper social distancing measures must be put in place.

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Local Government secretary Robert Jenrick confirmed some tips will open up this weekend, and said delaying opening waste centres will mean longer queues when they eventually do.

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Councils are keen to open waste and recycling centres, the Local Government Association said, but the body insisted they can only do so when they can be sure sufficient measures are in place to protect staff and the public.

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Mr Jenrick said that, due to large demand, many councils may opt to reopen their sites in a ‘staged’ manner, which he said is ‘sensible’.

He said: “The longer we delay it, the longer those queues are going to be when the waste sites re-open.”

He said visiting a tip is a ‘perfectly legal’ thing for people to do, but warned people ‘obviously don't abuse it’.

He added: “There is no reason why you cannot travel to a tip to put household waste there or do recycling. Councils should have the confidence to reopen them as soon as possible.”

Police will be needed to manage ‘inevitable’ traffic queues at tips and a permit system and longer opening hours could be considered to deal with demand, councillor David Renard, environment spokesman for the LGA said.

He added: “Household waste recycling centres can only re-open when they have sufficient staffing and social distancing measures are in place to protect staff and members of the public, which remains paramount.

“To safely manage visitor flow and pent-up demand, the police will need to manage inevitable traffic queues at the sites, with consideration needing to be given to whether supportive measures, such as a permit system and longer opening hours might be needed.”

He said it is crucial that staff are given and said re-openings will be decided locally based on risk assessments taken in each local authority area.