Work on a multi-million pound revamp of Suffolk's busiest rubbish tip has been given the go-ahead.
Suffolk County Council granted planning approval this week for the £6.5million upgrade of Foxhall Recycling Centre near Ipswich, which will eradicate the need for cars to queue on the busy Foxhall Road, raise access so people do not need to carry items up steps to dump them in containers, and will reduce the need to close for containers to be compacted or emptied.
It also includes plans to introduce a feeder lane in Foxhall Road to access the site, to prevent traffic having to stop in Foxhall Road - currently a 50mph highway, after the county council dropped the speed limit down from the national limit there last month.
Work will begin this summer with hopes it will be fully operational in autumn 2022.
Cabinet member for Ipswich and waste, Paul West, said: "It's great that we have the green light to go ahead with these planned improvements to the Foxhall Recycling Centre.
"I'm really looking forward to when the work gets underway later this year.
"These improvements will have a significant impact on the quality of the user experience for those visiting the site, making it easier and more accessible while the process for emptying the large containers will become more efficient."
The council said it was aware of the popularity of the site, and intended to keep as much of the current facility open as possible during construction to minimise disruption.
It follows confirmation last week that automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) cameras are to be installed to make the booking system more efficient at the site.
A public consultation took place last summer to gather views for the planned changes, with that feedback helping inform the planning application lodged in October.
The county council has also committed £1.5m to recycling centre provision in Haverhill, where plans are in the pipeline to establish a site in Homefield Road rather than attempt to extend the existing centre in Chalkstone Way.
It is felt that Chalkstone Way cannot be expanded enough to meet the expected housing growth in the town over the coming years.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here