Early birds catching the queues at waste site

The new facility at Mont Cuet, which opened earlier this month, unlocks its gates at 10am each morning – two hours later than the old site.

This is so the build up of green waste from the previous day can be cleared up.

However the new site has longer operating hours than the old site at Chouet Headland, including later closing on Sunday afternoons.

Guernsey Waste said that queues have been reported on weekend mornings, due to vehicles arriving well before the gates open, and these have taken up to an hour to clear.

Households dropping off later in the day have not experienced any significant waiting time.

Guernsey Waste minimisation & sustainability officer Douglas Button said islanders were still getting used to the new operating hours.

‘It is still very early days. Some people are still getting used to the later opening times,’ he said.

‘Given it is quite a big change compared to the old site, we anticipated there might be a few issues in the early days. However from our perspective everything seems to have gone pretty smoothly, and the feedback we have had from users of the site has been overwhelmingly positive, which is very pleasing.

‘We are confident customers will become accustomed to the hours fairly quickly. For now, we would just remind everyone that if you turn up before 10am, you could face a bit of a wait.

'If you can leave it until a bit later in the day, you are likely to avoid queuing.’

Unlike the muddy surroundings of the old site, the new facility has a concrete floor, with seven parking bays, including one larger one for cars with trailers, and an extra member of staff to help with reversing and traffic flow.

However some islanders have taken to social media to complain the site is too small to service the island and that having one specified trailer bay often leads to other bays remaining empty.

Mr Button said fewer than one in 10 vehicles visiting the site was fitted with a trailer.

‘Out of seven bays, one is specifically designed for trailers, and can accommodate up to three at any one time.

'We think that is sufficient provision, but clearly it is very early days so site users are still becoming accustomed to the operation of the new site,’ he said.

‘We are grateful to everyone for their patience, and if there are any adjustments required in light of experience gained through the first few weeks then we can consider those once it has had time to bed in.’

Guernsey Waste confirmed it has applied for planning permission to extend the site's opening times on Saturdays and Sundays until 6pm during the summer months.

• The site is currently open from 10am to 6pm on weekdays, and until 4pm on weekends and Bank Holidays, excluding Liberation Day. It is closed on Thursdays.