MINEHEAD’s household recycling centre could be expanded or improved in the coming years under new proposals released this week.
The Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) operates 16 recycling centres across the county, allowing residents to dispose of items which cannot be recycled at the kerbside.
As part of its new business plan, the SWP has committed to upgrading its facilities at Minehead to ensure the site can cope with future demand.
The work will be carried out by 2026 at the latest but could happen a lot sooner as business cases for each upgrade are approved.
Details of the planned improvements were published ahead of a meeting of the SWP joint scrutiny panel held on Wednesday (February 10).
A spokesman said: “We will seek opportunities to improve our recycling centres, subject to development of viable solutions and robust business cases. Minehead recycling centre is among the top priorities. We want to see if there are ways of expanding the site.”
The business plan also commits to a review of all signs directing people to the recycling centres, and a programme of ‘maintenance and safety improvements’ across all 16 sites.
“There are no firm plans yet, but if any major change were to happen it would have to be funded from capital budgets, prioritised as part of the usual county council process,” the spokesman added.
The Minehead facility is hemmed in by other buildings on the Mart Road industrial estate, not far from the terminus of the West Somerset Railway.
Daniel Mumby
Local democracy reporter