While the Waitrose Rohais, Salerie Corner and the Longfrie Inn sites reopen on Monday after being closed during the coronavirus lockdown, those at L’Eree and Vazon will remain closed pending a review. Some have said this would not only be beneficial to these beauty spot areas but also a logical step, as fewer people use the sites now.
Castel constable Kelvin Hudson said a permanent closure of the two bring bank sites would help islanders take back the more beautiful areas of the island and make them tourist-friendly again.
‘I’m very pleased [Guernsey Waste] is reconsidering the use of the sites at L’Eree and Vazon,’ he said.
‘They’re both beauty spots that are frequented by tourists and when the tourism season starts again the area will look so much better for not having them there.
‘Plus there are still enough to be available for islanders to go to and use and they’re in better locations, such as the Rohais Waitrose.’
The latest move means that two of the three bring bank sites will be in St Peter Port. St Peter Port constable Dennis Le Moignan added that there were more-convenient options.
‘Bring banks are still a useful commodity to have open as they provide flexibility,’ he said.
‘Though perhaps we don’t need as many now as we used to as people use the kerbside recycling collection more.
‘You can see that from the rise in the figures of the amount of recycling collected in the island [and] that includes me as I use kerbside collection only compared to when I used to go to bring banks, so although I’d say it’s a good idea to reopen them it’s not necessary to reopen all.’
In 2019, there was a big recycling rate increase with a prediction of above 60% for the first quarter compared to 50.2% for the same period in 2018.
Plastic Free Guernsey’s Madeleine Norman said that kerbside collections would potentially be more environmentally friendly too.
‘We’d hope people would make use of the kerbside collections for the convenience factor, plus fewer trips in the car,’ she said.
‘But before that we would like people to think where they can actually reduce waste by buying loose produce, refilling bottles and containers, only buying what you need etc.
‘The 5Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Refill, Repair and then Recycle is the message we wish to promote.’
The review of the L’Eree and Vazon sites comes in the wake of the closure of the St Martin’s Manor Stores site, which was shut in early March after the owner asked for the bins to be removed due to persistent misuse, including fly-tipping, littering and commercial abuse.
The Chouet bring banks closed last year.
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