ALMOST three weeks after the COVID lockdown was imposed in the lower Hunter, Lake Macquarie City Council has shut its Awaba Waste Management Facility to the public, to further encourage people to stay at home.
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The facility remains open to essential commercial operators and the trucks that carry out the council's kerbside collection services.
The council's waste services manager, Paul Collins, said the temporary closure was in line with the state's public health order, and in response to the latest advice from the NSW Environment Protection Authority.
According to that advice, no member of the public should be visiting a recycling or waste management facility as it was not considered an essential reason for leaving home.
Mr Collins said while the council had been discouraging the public from using the facility since the stay-at-home orders were brought in, "we've noticed the attendance numbers have only decreased slightly from before lockdown".
On an average Saturday before the lockdown, about 100 would visit the facility. Since the orders came in, there were still about 85 visitors.
What's more, Mr Collins said, there was concern people were travelling from other areas to use the waste facility.
The Awaba facility was shut to the public on Wednesday to support the stay-at-home orders, Mr Collins said.
"We hope it's only for the short term, and we're going to be guided by the public health orders," he said.
Mr Collins didn't believe the temporary closure would lead to a rise in illegal dumping in the lake area, advising if people had waste they would normally take to the facility to store it safely for the moment.
"We hope they [members of the public] remain understanding and patient," he said.
Lake Macquarie City Council's regular domestic kerbside collections and bulk waste services would continue, as they were considered essential.
City of Newcastle's Summerhill Waste Management Centre was shut to domestic users after the lockdown was introduced on August 5. The facility remains open for essential commercial waste services, and for the trucks providing kerbside collections.
A City of Newcastle spokesman said the bulk waste kerbside collections were continuing as normal.
In Maitland, the Mount Vincent Road Waste Management Centre was also closed to the public after the stay-at-home orders were introduced, but commercial contractors could continue to use the facility.
Cessnock City Council also decided to shut its waste management centre to the public after the lockdown was enforced.
However, the council's Director of Works and Infrastructure, David Moloney, said those who didn't receive a domestic waste collection service and had the relevant council voucher could still use the facility.
The Cessnock Waste Management Centre remained open to commercial contractors, Mr Moloney said.
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