WILLITON, Dulverton and Wellington recycling centres are among 11 that will re-open on Monday (May 11) but for essential visits only, in line with updated Government guidance.

Garden Waste collections are also set to resume on Monday, both services having been suspended by Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Minehead is expected to reopen on Tuesday May 26 and operate on the temporary opening hours, though the plan will be constantly reviewed depending on how things are working.

To ensure social distancing and to protect public and staff, there will be restrictions on numbers coming into the recycling sites and the range of materials sites will accept.

And SWP is warning would-be visitors to expect big queues and long waits as access is limited to ‘one in, one out’ and the number of unloading bays is reduced. Measures to control traffic will be in place.

Initially, the sites will operate temporary additional opening hours of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 9am to 6pm; Saturday and Sunday: 9am to 4pm; Thursday closed.

An odd and even vehicle number plate system will be used to control numbers. People can only visit on certain days depending on your number plate:

Odd numbers can visit on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and even numbers on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

For the full story see this week’s Wellington Weekly News.