Mandatory Booking at Lifford Lane Recycling Centre

From ITV News. To book your slot  go to:

https://www.veolia.co.uk/birmingham/household-recycling-centres

One has to ask why this hasn’t been done before, the queuing at Lifford Lane has been dangerous for years and many neighbouring authorities have a booking systems.

Booking system introduced at Birmingham Household Recycling Centres

Book a slot in advance or you will be turned away – that’s the message to people living in Birmingham who want to use their local recycling centre.

A new online booking system has been introduced to access Birmingham’s network of Household Recycling Centres to ensure that social distancing measures are followed.

Since reopening after government guidance that trips to HRCs were permissible during the ongoing lockdown, lengthy queues and waiting times of up to 5 hours have been experienced in Birmingham.

“We were clear from the outset that people should only visit our HRCs if it was absolutely essential and had hoped that queues would reduce the longer the HRCs were open – but that has not been the case. We know clean streets and waste management are important issues for the people of the city, so we have reviewed what is possible and have identified a proven scheme that will bring certainty for those who are planning a trip to our HRCs. Nobody wants to have to wait up to five hours to dispose of their waste and this booking system will help us end that frustration.”

– CLLR JOHN O’SHEA, CABINET MEMBER FOR STREET SCENE AND PARKS AT BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL

“Residents’ patience is appreciated whilst we adapt to make these changes. We have been working behind the scenes on implementing an online booking system with the aim that it will reduce the waiting time considerably. We would like to remind visitors to observe social distancing when on-site to help keep the city and our teams safe during these unprecedented times.”

– MARK POWELL, GENERAL MANAGER, VEOLIA

The new website booking system, based on one operated successfully in Leeds, is now open and residents who use the website system can reserve slots for later this week from Thursday (June 11) onwards.

From June 11, only those with a booking, linked to the registration plate of their vehicle, will be permitted access to the HRCs, with no exceptions. Additionally, each vehicle will be restricted to one booking per week.

As this booking system is being introduced as an emergency queue mitigation measure, it will only be available online. Anyone who does not have access to the internet is advised to ask friends or family to help arrange bookings for them.

And in a further update to help residents manage their waste, the opening hours at all sites are being extended to the normal summer hours from June 11, as follows:

Weekdays (Monday to Friday) Tyseley, Perry Barr, Kings Norton & Sutton Coldfield HRCs: 8am-8pm

Weekends (Saturday and Sunday) Tyseley, Perry Barr, Kings Norton: 8am-6pm Sutton Coldfield: 8am-4pm