The barriers at the Harefield Recycling Centre, which had been out of order, have now been fixed, Hillingdon Council confirmed.
Councillor Wayne Bridges, Cabinet Member for Residents' Services, addressed concerns raised by a resident regarding the broken barriers at the Harefield Civic Community Site. He stated that the council encountered significant technological issues
with the barriers, which resulted in substantial traffic congestion on the site for which no satisfactory solution could be identified. This led to alternative measures being put in place.
While the barriers were not operational, alternative measures are therefore in place including hill in the first card checks and periodic site audits.
A recent audit found that 91.8% of visitors presented a Hill in the First card, 7.5% provided alternative proof of residence, and just 0.7% were identified as having no ID or being non-residents. Councillor Bridges stated, we believe any loss of revenue arising from the barriers being out of use is minimal, although we continue to review the operation of the site and opportunities to further improve the service for residents.
Despite the barrier issues, residents could still recycle magazines and paper as part of the co-mingled stream. Additionally, a dedicated textile collection point remains available at the centre for clothing and other textiles.
The council's operational decision to implement alternative measures followed reviews into financial, legal, equalities, and services. Councillor Bridges encouraged residents to utilise the council's curbside recycling service for materials like magazines and paper to avoid making separate journeys to the recycling centre, stating, In relation to recycling materials, magazines and paper can still be recycled at the site as part of the co-mingled recycling stream. However, in most cases, we would encourage all residents to use the council's curbside recycling service for these materials rather than making a separate journey to the site.