Reading Residents have given the new re3 recycling centres in Reading and Bracknell top marks in their latest user satisfaction surveys, with 98% of people rating the sites as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ overall.
This follows hot on the heels of the Smallmead Household Waste Recycling Centre being voted the best in the country in the recent Reading Civic Amenity site of the Year award.
The new Longshot Lane centre in Bracknell opened this summer and the survey highlights the positive response of residents to the new site. Over 2,000 people took part in the survey which was carried out in October 2009 by an independent consultant. In other results:
- 100% of Longshot Lane users said that the site was ‘very good’ for cleanliness.
– 95% of Smallmead users and 94% of Longshot Lane users said they were happy with queueing times
– 97% of Longshot Lane users and 92% at Smallmead rated staff as ‘very helpful’ or ‘helpful’
– 94% at Smallmead and 91% at Longshot Lane thought that on-site information was ‘good’ or ‘very good’
The new centres were developed by re3, the partnership between Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Borough Councils and the Waste Recycling Group (WRG), set up to increase the amount of waste that is reused, recycled and composted across the three boroughs and minimise the amount of waste sent to landfill.
The Reading survey results reflect the improved design and layout at the new centres compared with the old style civic amenity sites. Both centres are designed to be more spacious and easier for people to use with improved traffic flows.
Last month, re3 picked up the Civic Amenity site of the Year award at the letsrecycle.com Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management in London, beating competition from recycling centres in Warwickshire and Leeds.
Councillor Rob Stanton, Chair of the re3 Board said: ‘It’s fabulous news that the re3 centres have got such a massive thumbs up from local residents. It was great to see Smallmead voted as the best site in the country by a panel of national experts, but what matters most is what the people of Bracknell, Reading and Wokingham say.
"These excellent results reflect the time, investment and thought that the three councils and WRG have spent making these new centres the best they can possibly be for the people of the three boroughs and I’m really pleased that residents think we are doing a good job."
Paul Gittings, Reading’s Lead Councillor for Environment and Sustainability, said: "I am delighted that the latest survey of residents gives such a unanimous thumbs up to the new facilities at both Smallmead and Longshot lane. They are amongst the best in the country and I hope that acts as an incentive to increase our recycling rates throughout the borough and the wider area covered by the re3 partnership."
Reading Borough Council
