Further to the recent petition presented at the Community Safety and Waste Management Panel on 21 October 2015, set out below are the actions that are being taken to address the concerns raised. In response to the reduced levels of central support now being afforded to Local Authorities, all of the Council’s services have had to look for efficiencies including, Waste Disposal Services. Historically, queuing at the Letchworth Centre has occurred from time to time, although these issues were not severe, but in the early spring, it became apparent that queues at the Letchworth Household Waste Recycling Centre were causing delays to residents wishing to use the site and creating disruption to local businesses. The following measures were put in place during in April and May of this year: - Press releases issued to explain that Easter and school holidays are very busy times at the sites - Additional staff drafted in for the Easter period - Minor changes to the site layout - Staff asked to assist residents and leaflets given out to raise awareness of queuing issues and site layout to speed up throughput - Messages and FAQs introduced on the website to change user behaviour and better inform residents of potential issues - Keep Clear lettering installed on Blackhorse Road to ensure access to local businesses was not restricted. - the site operator Amey, conducted a survey to better understand user behaviour with a view to developing a better communication plan - meetings were held with local businesses to explain what was being down. Whilst these actions did help, the site continued to experience queuing problems throughout the summer. To further mitigate the problems a new site layout to remove the old compaction equipment and increase the capacity for parking on site by adding 13 more spaces to increase the throughput of traffic has been developed. It is proposed to carry out this work during early December and use an existing capital allocation of approximately £70 - £80k. These changes will eliminate the need to change the compactors onto new containers, which can take up to 15mins. They will also provide additional capacity for recyclable materials and more flexibility on container usage, which will help to avoid unscheduled closures for servicing during normal operational hours. When completed these changes should reduce the build-up of queues and generally improve matters for users. It is recognised however that this site has operational limitations. Space constraints, it’s location in a busy industrial area and a nearby new housing estate all mean the location of the site presents a challenge in itself. A new location for the site is being sought although it is recognised this will take some time to achieve. The improvements that are underway will help ease queueing and as the site is not one that is suitable for expansion or in a good location further action is limited and instead the search for an alternative location will continue. This coupled with the financial constraints mean that reopening 7 days per week is not achievable or a long term solution.