Hop Oast recycling centre ‘unsuitable’ for ever-growing Horsham

At an online meeting of the district council’s cabinet on Thursday (June 4), Philip Circus, cabinet member for environment, recycling & waste, said he had heard ‘regular horror stories’ from residents about traffic congestion at the Hop Oast site.

Mr Circus linked the problem with the fact West Sussex County Council had gradually widened the range of materials accepted at its centres over the past few weeks.

He added: “What it has shown is something we knew already – that the facilities at Hop Oast are manifestly, and have been for a long time, unsuitable for a town of Horsham’s size and particularly for a town of Horsham’s future size.

“So it’s quite obvious to me that we really need to see a massive investment in the Hop Oast Recycling Centre to match the demands of the future.

“At the moment we are just hopeful that the existing problems will settle down because it’s causing problems for the police, it’s causing problems for our staff at the depot.”

Mr Circus told the meeting that, from Monday (June 8), the district council would no longer be accepting ‘side waste’ when collecting residents’ bins.

He said the service had been offered while the recycling centres were closed but was now ‘no longer appropriate’.

When asked what plans there were to expand or invest in the Hop Oast site, a county council spokesman said: “West Sussex County Council is currently reviewing all of its waste facilitates to determine if any changes may be required in the future.

“All options would need to be fully considered by cabinet and decisions made based on balancing the costs and level of improvements that can be made.

“The county council is in the early stages of this process and it is too early to make comments in relation to one site.”

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