Thousands Book in for Recycling Village

More than 2,000 residents visited South Tyneside's Recycling Village in the first week of a new booking system being introduced.

The Council launched the new booking arrangements on Monday 20 September, with residents able to pre-book their visit to the site on Middlefields Industrial Estate up to two weeks in advance.

More than 4,500 appointments have been booked since the system was introduced, with over 95 percent made through the Council's website at www.southtyneside.gov.uk  Residents can also book over the phone by calling the Customer Contact Centre on (0191) 427 7000.

The new measures have been positively received by those visiting the site, which welcomed around 400 people on the first day of operation alone.

Councillor Ernest Gibson, Lead Member for Area Management and Community Safety, said: "It has been encouraging that people have been using the new system and the feedback received from those who have booked their slot and visited has been extremely positive.

"We are pleased that the launch has went smoothly and is achieving what is set out to do; preventing the lengthy queues, which were not only causing frustration for users but creating traffic delays on our road network and problems for other businesses on the industrial estate.

"It is also helping us to regulate who uses the site by restricting access to the people of South Tyneside only.

"However, around a quarter of people are currently turning up without a booking. In these early days we have enabled them to enter the site, but going forward residents do need to have booked a slot beforehand.

"We appreciate this is a big service change for residents and may take some time to get used too. We will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure the service is running as efficiently as possible. In the meantime, we thank residents for their support as we all work under these new arrangements."

Visitors to the Recycling Village are required to book a slot, either online or over the phone. Slots are released two weeks in advance and available on a first come first served basis.

Those with vans are able to get an annual permit, allowing up to 12 visits a year.

The Recycling Village at Middlefields Industrial Estate in South Shields is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 9am to 6pm.

For further information about visiting the Recycling Village or booking a slot visit South Tyneside's Council's website at www.southtyneside.gov.uk