THE first work has started on the new civic amenity site being created for the north of the Island at Balladoole Farm in Bride.
The Department of Infrastructure member Graham Cregeen has officially performed the ‘breaking ground’ ceremony by digging the first piece of turf from the farmland where the £600,000 recycling and refuse collection site will be created.
Tynwald agreed to spend the money on the new facility earlier this year, creating a site very similar in design to the amenity site at St John’s. It is much closer to Ramsey than the existing facility near the Point of Ayre and is expected to reduce traffic congestion in that area.
The 4000 square metre site will have a concrete hard standing comprising of two levels; the upper level will be exclusively for public use to deposit, recycle and reuse waste whilst the lower level will be for operations associated with the movement of bulk skips.
The Balladoole Farm site was selected for the new development as a dual site for the new Northern Sewage Treatment Works and the Civic Amenity Site. A government spokesman said, "The land is strategically located with benefits to both projects through shared access and site development.
"The new site will deal with the recycling of paper, card, glass, metals, plastic bottles, clothing, waste oils, aggregates (stone, bricks etc), fluorescent tubes, car batteries, household batteries, electrical items such as TVs, fridge freezers, PC monitors, the collection of green waste for composting and the disposal of bulky residual household waste for treatment via the Energy from Waste facility.
Mr Cregeen added, "This development has been designed to accord with best practice and brings the site in line with the standards experienced by residents in the west, east and south of the Island.
"It will ensure the reuse and recycling culture is enhanced primarily through the expansion of the site and a reuse building where a wider selection of materials can now be stored for members of the public to put to good use.
"The joint planning of the site with the new Northern Sewage Treatment Works shows how joined up Government thinking can benefit the public in terms of construction time and disruption and the associated costs.
“This new site supports our waste policy and strategy by encouraging the public to reuse and recycle their waste where possible. Work will now commence and it is hoped it will be fully operational by April 2012."
Views on waste strategy cane be expressed by the public by taking part in the Department’s all-Island waste consultation. Visit www.waste.gov.im to fill in the online questionnaire.
