Bosses say they hope changes to Lichfield’s household waste recycling centre will help to ease congestion around the site in future.
Extra space is being created at the Witley Drive facility with more unloading areas and additional ramps.
But visitors are being warned of restrictions this weekend – including vehicles over 1.9metres not being allowed in – as final steps are taken to finish the improvements.
The centre will open as usual from 9am to 5pm on Saturday (27th March) and will open at 9am 0n Sunday before closing at 2pm. The site will then reopen at noon on the following Wednesday.
Darryl Eyers, Staffordshire County Council’s director for economy, infrastructure and skills, said:
“The work at Lichfield will increase capacity and allow us to handle more users at any one time so we appreciate people’s patience while we finish the work.
“We will continue to have officers on the road outside to help manage queues and unfortunately we are unable to accept vehicles taller than 1.9metres at Lichfield this weekend.
“Under current social distancing restrictions where staff cannot help customers unload recycling, it takes much longer to empty larger vehicles and we are keen to keep traffic moving this Saturday and Sunday.
“If anyone cannot wait until later in the week, they are welcome to use one of our other sites such as Burntwood, Burton or Rugeley.”
Darryl Evers, Staffordshire County Council
Mr Evers said that sites across the county had faced a rise in demand during the period of warmer weather.
“We have seen a marked increase in use in recent weeks at our sites but we still have social distancing measures in place and at the moment we cannot handle as many customers at once as we used to.
“If people can stagger their visits or choose a less busy period it helps spread the load and reduces queues.”
Darryl Evers, Staffordshire County Council
