Delivering for Hayes, Coney Hall & Keston Village
Delivering for Hayes, Coney Hall & Keston Village
Once in a generation work at Waldo Road Depot, including anti-fire measures.
As you will be aware, the Council will be carrying out much-needed structural and maintenance works at the Waldo Road site. These works, which follow regulatory guidance from the Environment Agency about fire prevention measures, will start
soon. The Waldo Road Reuse and Recycling Centre will be closed to residents from Monday 3 February 2025 to undertake the work.
I apologise sincerely for the disruption that this will cause, however the closure is unavoidable. I feel it is only right that I be completely open about the reasons and the implications in the short term and the long-term benefits they will bring. The work will ensure the site continues to meet the Environment Agency’s latest guidance, both relating to fire prevention and controlling the risk of pollution, thereby complying with the conditions of the operating permit.
It is important to note as well that during this closure period, we are supporting residents with additional garden waste disposal facilities and other mitigation measures, including additional capacity for bulky waste collections from your
property.
As many of you who visit the tip will be aware, the Waldo Road site, which dates back to Victorian times, needs renovation to ensure our operations can continue effectively and safely. The improvement work will address this, by installing fire prevention measures and renewing infrastructure such as the drainage.
Residents may recall that last year, we had to close the site to the public due to collapsed drains. This planned work has been in the making for a number of years and our contractor, Guildmore has been appointed and will begin work when the site closes to residents.
During the works, Waldo Road will continue to be used by Veolia, our waste management contractor, and remain as the borough’s main transfer station for recycling and household waste which is collected directly from residents. It is paramount that this aspect of the service is prioritised above all else and the work will not impact your household recycling and waste collections.
For confirmation, our Churchfields Road site will remain open for residents to use, with a booking system helping ensure the site operates at its maximum efficiency and minimising possible congestion. Details for how to book a visit will be on the Council’s website (www.bromley.gov.uk).
We are also upping our garden waste weekend satellite sites and bulky waste collections across the borough with details on our website. The bulky waste collections will be prioritised for traders as we are unfortunately unable to take trade waste at Churchfields to begin with, due to lack of capacity and a statutory duty to prioritise residential waste over trade. As someone who relies on the trade waste service myself, I completely understand the frustration and disappointment this will
cause, and I hope that prioritising trade waste for bulky waste collections will help alleviate some concerns. The Council website also has details of local skip hire firms which can be used. We have also reached out to neighbouring councils to
allow residents to use their facilities during the works but sadly this wasn’t a viable option.
It is anticipated that the works to Waldo Road Depot will last for 13 months and once the work is finished, the borough will have a brand-new waste depot facility, which will be safe and equipped for the future – thus also futureproofing the Borough. Crucially as well, the work will also minimise reactive repairs and associated costs, which will
be welcome news all around.
Thank you for your understanding – we will continue to stay in touch in the coming weeks and months and will publish regular updates throughout this important period.
Kind regards
Cllr Will Rowlands
Portfolio Holder for Environment
Bromley Council
Waldo Road depot, which encompasses the Reuse and Recycling Centre, is undergoing planned infrastructure improvements, including installing fire prevention equipment and renewing drainage, which follows the Environment Agency regulatory guidance. The temporary closure of the Reuse and Recycling Centre throughout the duration of the work will mean that the depot can continue to be able to be used as a waste transfer station, where all the Borough’s recycling and refuse collections are initially collected together before being transported out of the borough. This ensures that the recycling and waste collections and street cleansing services are not affected by the construction works and residents continue to receive their collections.
The RRC will be closed for the duration of the works, which is expected to last at least 12 months, and it should reopen in spring 2026.
The council provides residents with a comprehensive collection service enabling residents to recycle and dispose of most common household items from their home.
Garden waste can also be taken to one of the green garden waste temporary sites at the weekend, or residents can subscribe to the green garden waste wheelie bin collection service for just £70 for the year.
Where residents have household items that are in a good condition, it is encouraged that they are donated to charity for reuse, or via sites such as Freecycle, Freegle and Facebook Marketplace; passed on to friends or family; or sold via sites such as eBay, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace.
Some shops will provide a collection service for old furniture when purchasing new furniture, including beds etc – please check with them when you make your new purchase.
The council provides a bulky waste collection service for unwanted furniture, with different charges applying depending on what is being disposed of.
The Council will continue to target fly-tipping and prosecute those who dump rubbish. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure that they dispose of their waste correctly and there are many options available for residents and businesses to dispose of waste properly and legally, with options also expanded whilst Waldo Road is closed.
Whilst fly-tipping is comparatively rare, if you come across fly-tipping on the public highway, please report it. We work closely with the Veolia fly-tipping collection teams to ensure dumped rubbish is removed, with incidences investigated too.
There are several different ways to dispose of or recycle various items, including many alternative temporary locations for garden waste, with the garden waste locations (Saturdays 11 am- 4 pm Shire Lane, Cotmandene Crescent, Norman Park, and Sundays 8 am-12 pm Charles Darwin school and Unicorn – Creswell Drive) being in operation each weekend from 1st March across the borough. Our Churchfields Road Reuse and Recycling Centre will remain open, with a booking system in place to maximise efficiency in support of residents and to minimise queuing time and related congestion.
The site was built in Victorian times and requires work and upgrades to ensure it complies with health and safety and current waste guidance. Infrastructure such as drainage is being replaced, with fire prevention equipment being installed in line with Environment Agency guidance.
The contractor, Guildmore, will be on site from February 2025 to prepare the site ready for the work to start. This will include erecting hoarding around the construction site and adjusting the current waste storage bays. Construction work will commence in March 2025 and is expected to last just over a year.
Whilst the work will not be silent, it is not anticipated that it will generally be noisy, with work being carried out during normal working hours, with the impact of noise being minimised where possible. If any work has to be completed out of hours, then we will share details with local residents in advance, with the contractor following all relevant codes of practice.
Overall, there will be less traffic using the site, with traffic control also being in place – our contractor is required to register with the Considerate Constructors Scheme and to follow strict standards around managing the construction traffic both within and coming in and out of the site.
