RENFREW residents who cannot drive to their local recycling centre have raised concerns about being unable to dispose of their waste.

Renfrew North and Braehead Councillor Jane Strang has been contacted by residents who have been turned away at the town’s Haining Road site due to not having a vehicle. 

The Tory member is now calling for council officials to come up with a solution to ensure that those who cannot drive or wish to walk into the site can dispose of their waste they wish to recycle.

With dumping having also been on the rise in Renfrew’s High Street, Councillor Strang said an entrance must be made readily available for pedestrians or those without a vehicle are given access at certain times.

“Ensuring that recycling is easily disposed of is absolutely vital and it seems strange to me that pedestrians are currently prohibited from entering the site at Haining Road,” Councillor Strang told The Gazette.

“Not having access to a vehicle to be able to drive into the site shouldn’t be a reason for residents being unable to get rid of their recycling. Council officials need to look at this policy as a matter of urgency. That could be having a specific entrance for pedestrians, separate to vehicles or giving access to pedestrians at certain times.

“We cannot have a situation where some residents, who pay their Council Tax like everyone else miss out on a vital service and I hope this can be changed as a matter of urgency.”

A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “The restrictions in place at all our Household Waste Recycling Centres are there to help keep residents and staff safe by allowing everyone to maintain physical distancing.

“These restrictions are under constant review and we will consider how best we can relax them when it is safe to do so. However we would point out there is no safe pedestrian access to the Renfrew HWRC given the very narrow entrance and exit.

“In the meantime any resident who needs to dispose of excess waste and who does not have access to a car can use our special uplift service to have the items collected from their home.

“Throughout the pandemic we have maintained a full waste collection service for Renfrewshire residents every week.”

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