DOWNPATRICK’S new civic amenity centre is scheduled to open later this month.
The new site at the Flying Horse Road on the outskirts of the town will replace the nearby Cloonagh Road facility which has been struggling for some time to keep pace with increasing demand.
Newry, Mourne and Down Council is building the new centre which is larger than the current facility and will be able to handle considerably more waste. By 2020, the local authority must recycle 50% of all its waste.
Confirmation that the new centre is due to open in July came at last week’s meeting of the local authority’s Neighbourhood Services Committee when it was also revealed that new restrictions are to be introduced governing how much waste people can dump daily.
Over recent years, modern civic amenity sites have been developed in Ballynahinch and in Castlewellan and councillors have been told that the new facility in Downpatrick will be one of the most up-to-date of its kind.
Increasing numbers of people use the existing Cloonagh Road facility which council officials have been keen to replace for a number of years, but had difficulty securing an appropriate site.
Last week, councillors agreed new rules and regulations governing how much waste can not only bd taken to civic amenity sites in Downpatrick, Newcastle and Ballynahinch, but how often.
Council officials are keen to have the same rules applying across all amenity sites which is not currently the case, but this is set to change when the new facility at the Flying Horse Road opens shortly.
One of the key changes will be the drive to reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste taken to the facilities which officials are confident will have a positive impact on budgets as less waste will need to be processed.
A communications plan is also being devised ahead of the opening of the new Downpatrick facility and a period of grace will initially be in place until people become accustomed to the new rules governing their use.
Commercial waste will be accepted at the new Flying Horse Road facility, but there will be no access for horse boxes and high sided trailers, with a restriction on the size of vehicles entering the facility.
Ratepayers will not be permitted to take wheeled bins to the recycling centre with people also urged to sort their waste before arrival. In addition, new daily limits are to be imposed.
They are no more than eight bags of non-recyclable and recyclable waste, five bulky items, 25 kilograms of rubble, one trailer of grass and two mattresses. Vans heavier than 3.5 tonnes will be permitted entry daily.
Only hazardous waste will be accepted in Downpatrick to facilitate home and garage clear-outs with a £1.50 charge per tyre that is dumped. No more than four tyres can be dumped on the one day. Commercial vehicle tyres will not be accepted with a 10 litre limit on old paint tins per visit.
Restrictions also apply to the amount of plasterboard and doors with people permitted to dump old kitchens only once every six months. Bathroom waste is restricted to ceramics, taps and shower glass with tiles classed as rubble waste.
Oil tanks and drums are not permitted at any of the district’s household recycling centres, alongside fluorescent tubes and liquid waste.
Downpatrick councillor Dermot Curran welcomed the opening of the new facility.
“There has been a need for this new centre for some considerable time and hopefully this investment will ensure people do not have to queue up to use it,” he said.
“A large facility with increased skip capacity is exactly what is needed.”