‘RIDICULOUS’ health and safety rules at Wellesbourne recycling centre have angered residents.
Villagers have criticised Warwickshire County Council after pedestrians wanting to visit the Age UK reuse shop at the Loxely Road site were turned away.
A series of complaints about the council’s rules have been posted on the village’s community Facebook page, with many stating they would prefer to save their petrol by walking to the site and even questioning why people would choose to visit if they have to drive such a short distance.
For health and safety purposes, the recycling centre has put a blanket ban on ‘walk ins’ because of the volume of traffic entering and leaving the site – including HGVs – but villagers want a change to the rules, allowing those who do not want to drive to visit the reuse shop.
Andrea Daniels said: “Whilst I appreciate the operators of the site are governed by the necessary legal health & safety requirements, it seems ridiculous to me that something which provides not only vital funds but a much needed service for the local community cannot be accessed freely.”
And John Gledhill added extending the ‘no walk ins’ rule to the whole site seemed unnecessary with the shop being located far enough away from the recycling facilities.
But a Warwickshire County Council spokesman said: “For safety reasons, no public pedestrian access is allowed through the entrance or exit gates at any of our household waste recycling centres.
“Wellesbourne is particularly busy as it shares its gates with other county council services that generate significant traffic and frequent visits from heavy goods vehicles.
“In accordance with health and safety law we must keep pedestrians and vehicles apart to reduce the risk of accidents. We take this responsibility very seriously indeed.
“Equally, we want to maximise the use of our facilities and have recently improved the site to create extra car parking for the Age UK re-use shop. It is not our wish to inconvenience residents but their safety must come first.”
Anyone without access to a vehicle call 01926 412593 to arrange to visit on foot.
