MOTORISTS and borough residents have been angered over the bank holiday Easter weekend because of the closure of Linford tip on Good Friday and Easter Sunday and the continued imposition of Covid-19 restrictions which have cut the car capacity of the site in half.

Today (Monday, 18 April) there were lengthy queues on the approach to the tip on Buckingham Hill Road, with more than 50 vehicles waiting at times.

Watch the Nub News report from the tip today via this link.

The queue has been perceived as a danger to traffic, particularly when motorists using the road but not the tip speed past queuing vehicles or drivers fed up with queuing attempt U-turns.

The council has had plans to expand the tip and improve the access and exit facilities to improve safety but they appear to have been put on ice. They were first mooted some three years ago and planning permission for the chagnes was given but nothing has happened.

The council has been challenged by local councillors over the administration of the tip, particularly traffic management - but the response was the traffic issues were the responsibility of Essex Police. At a council meeting last year, when challenged about the management of the tip and the lack of progress on improvements, the then-recently appointed portfolio holder for the environment, Cllr andrew Jefferies, said he had not been briefed and was unaware of any plans - even though they had been pased by council and championed by his cabinet predecessor Aaron Watkins., who quit the council last May.

You can find out more about the tip via the council's website page about the tip.

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