Residents are being reminded that the opening hours for the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) changed yesterday, May 8th.
Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet agreed to change the opening times at its meeting last month in order to save £96,000 a year in operational costs.
Under the new arrangements, the recycling centre will be open Monday to Sunday in the summer months (1 April to 31 Oct) from 8am to 5pm, instead of the current hours of 6am to 8pm. The 6am opening had been brought in temporarily for a two-year period while work to transform the nearby Bruce Street Bridges junction was being carried out and improvements to the depot layout were carried out.
Although the daily summer hours will be reduced, the centre will have extended hours during the summer on Thursdays with the site open between 8am and 8pm.
The winter opening hours (1 Nov to 31 Mar) will change slightly with the site being open to the public between 8am and 4pm, instead of 8am and 4.30pm.
The site in Cheney Manor industrial estate will also be closed all day on Wednesdays throughout the year.
The changes to the opening hours will come into force from Monday, 8 May and reflect similar changes that have been made in neighbouring local authorities.
The decision to reduce the hours was taken after analysing the usage patterns of those that visit the site. The number of people accessing the centre first thing in the morning and in the evening is less than during the day, while Wednesday is traditionally the quietest day for people visiting the HWRC.
The changes have been brought in following a number of improvements to the site which allow residents and traders to drop off their waste and recycling far quicker than in the past. This includes having a dedicated lane for trades, removing them from residents dropping off household waste and recycling. Since this change was implemented at the start of this month, the average queuing time for residents has significantly reduced.
As part of the new arrangements to improve queuing times at the site, those using the recycling centre will need to show they are a resident of the borough before dropping off their waste.
For further information about the Household Waste Recycling Centre can be found at: www.swindon.gov.uk/hwrc. Residents can also plan their visits to the centre by using the link to the webcam which shows current queues at the site. The webcam, however, will be switched off on Wednesdays when the recycling centre is closed.
