‘Steady flow’ of traffic as dump re-opens

The dump opens following the easing of coronavirus restrictions

The dump proved to be a popular location on Monday following its long-awaited re-opening after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

Staff at the refuse centre in Lerwick opened the gates slightly earlier than usual to allow a “steady flow” of cars into the premises.

By mid-afternoon well over 100 vehicles had come arrived at Rova Head.

Shetland Islands Council’s waste management leader Colin Bragg said the day had proved busy, although he stressed it was no busier than they expected it to be.

“There was a fairly steady flow of traffic throughout the day,” he said.

“We opened a little bit early because there were folk queuing at the gates.

“It’s a steady flow – we’ve had well over 100 cars.

“It’s no different today than a busy bank holiday.”

He said staff had expected even more traffic to be coming through, but suspected fine weather meant fewer people thought coming to the dump amounted to the best use of their time.

Mr Bragg said those who did come were respecting social distancing guidelines.

“We’re making sure people are two metres apart, and we are asking one person per vehicle to use the site,” he added.

To that end, visitors are being asked not to take items which are too bulky – because they may require more than one person to transfer them to the skips.

“We want to make sure people aren’t standing on top of each other.”

Efforts are also being made to ensure traffic keeps flowing through the premises.

It follows the dump’s temporary closure as part of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

But with many households building up garden or building waste over the spring months, councillors were being called upon to find ways of re-opening the premises, with Shetland Central member Moraig Lyall arguing at the time that the dump should be made available to the public.