Northamptonshire recycling centres to close until further notice

The county's nine household waste recycling centres are set to close until further notice because of the coronavirus lockdown.

Yesterday Northamptonshire County Council said the centres in Brixworth, Corby, Daventry, Kettering, Northampton (Ecton Lane and Sixfields), Rushden, Towcester and Wellingborough would remain open for essential use but that they would limit the number of vehicles on-site at any time and that staff would not be able to offer assistance.

But after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a three-week lockdown last night the council has this afternoon (Tuesday) decided to close the centres until further notice from 6pm.

Leader of the council Cllr Matt Golby said: “We are continuing to look at everything we do to find ways that we can support our residents and also ensure that we are meeting the ongoing challenges presented by Covid-19.”

Other changes made include changes to bus passes to allow older and vulnerable residents to access essential services including early morning food shopping.

The county council has agreed to extend the current bus concessionary travel scheme so that bus passes are valid 24 hours a day. This has been agreed with the operators of most bus services across Northamptonshire including Stagecoach, Britannia and Centrebus.

The council's Freedom of Information service will be temporarily suspended from tomorrow (Wednesday) to May 1. This means no requests received under the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations will be responded to within this time and any requests received will need to be resubmitted when the service reopens.

All of the county's libraries and county council run country parks have already been closed until further notice.

Civil partnerships and weddings have also been postponed.