Fire-hit Westhampnett site opening soon for green waste only
PRESS RELEASE FROM WEST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL
The fire-hit Westhampnett Household Waste Recycling Site (HWRS) will be open for residents to dispose of their green waste only from Thursday (18 April).
A blaze broke out in the main building at the centre involving more than 500 tonnes of household waste on 2 April and was extinguished on 9 April. However, the area where green waste is deposited was unaffected by the fire, enabling Viridor to re-open this part of the site.
Steve Read, the county council’s Director of Environment and Public Protection, said: “I’m pleased we will be able to offer residents this green waste disposal facility from Thursday and would like to thank everyone again for their patience and cooperation at this difficult time.
“Safety has to be our top priority and a structural engineer visited the site on Friday (12 April) to assess the damage to the main building there – the waste transfer station – and we await the outcome of this initial inspection.
“Until the extent of the damage to the building and concrete surround is known, we do not know which other parts of the site have been affected, and will therefore require works.
“We have to ensure it’s safe for both staff and the public, as well as ensuring compliance with all legislation and permits to allow the site to open.
“Once this is known, we will work with Viridor to develop a long-term plan for rebuilding the site.”
From Thursday, the Westhampnett site will be open for the disposal of green waste only, seven days a week from 9am-6pm.
Residents needing to dispose of other materials are advised to visit Bognor or Littlehampton HWRSs. Bognor and Littlehampton will remain open seven days a week until further notice. Please note these sites do NOT accept trailers or over-height vehicles (2.2m height restriction). Also, these sites do NOT accept plasterboard or asbestos.
The nearest trailer and over-height facility is Worthing HWRS or an alternative HWRS which accepts trailers is Billingshurst HWRS.
The alternate weekly (Thursday) service at the Witterings and Selsey is available and this service will accept trailers with the relevant permit.
HWRSs that accept asbestos are Burgess Hill, Crawley and Worthing. HWRSs that accept plasterboard are Billingshurst, Burgess Hill, Crawley, Horsham, Shoreham and Worthing.
Please see our website http://www.recycleforwestsussex.org/recycling-sites/
for further details and updates.