NEW £5 million waste and recycling centre is proposed for Poole, making it easier for residents to dump their rubbish.

The cramped and outdated civic amenity site on Nuffield Road, where long queues form to gain entrance, is set to be transformed.

“It’s an open environment facility which is not now up to date with current requirements,” said Shaun Robson, head of environmental and consumer protection at the Borough of Poole.

“In terms of operation it’s open air, creating odours, blown litter and dust,” he said.

Currently 95,000 tonnes of residents’ waste a year passes through its gates.

If councillors approve the chosen option and capital expenditure and planning permission is approved, there will be a new covered waste transfer building where the trucks will disgorge waste from kerbside collections. Residents’ collection services will be unaffected.

A separate entrance will lead through a split-level site with car queueing space, up a ramp to a recycling centre where residents will park and throw their items into lower level skips.

Mr Robson said: “Around 280,000 people visit this site every year, causing tailbacks onto the public road.”

That should become a thing of the past, as should the need to shut the site for 15 minutes twice a day to deal with the volume of recycling.

However, to enable the new centre to be built on the same site, it will be closed to the public for up to 18 months, due to be from April this year, with completion at the end of 2012.

A temporary public recycling centre will be set up at the council’s transport depot on Hatch Pond Road. But they will need to climb steps to get to skips and extra staff will help those who need a hand.

Cllr Don Collier, the council’s cabinet member for the environment, said this should result in a vast improvement for residents. “We have to spend this money and do this. It’s not something that’s an option,” he said.

Residents will be able to find out more at a drop-in public exhibition at the E&CPS offices, Newfields Business Park, Stinsford Road on Tuesday, January 25 from 3pm to 7.30pm.