The Government has unveiled a $50 million package to help the media industry which has seen advertising revenues plummet due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre is set to reopen for recycling and green waste collection services on Tuesday.
While only the front of the centre will be open for recycling, centre manager Dale Cobb said his team was "ready and raring to go" when the Covid-19 alert level drops from4 to 3.
"We've been having Zoom meetings and preparing for the big day, and we're expecting an awful lot of traffic on Tuesday," Cobb said.
"I really miss all the people, and I'm excited to see everyone again."
The centre was classed as an essential service during the level 4 lockdown but made the decision to close over concerns about social distancing and public safety.
Only the front of the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre will reopen on Tuesday. Photo / Bevan Conley
Cobb said he hoped the public adhered to the conditions the centre had put in place, such as allowing only one person from each vehicle to recycle and a "one-in one-out" policy.
"We want people to remain in their vehicles when they're waiting to access our facility, and we won't be allowing the public to park their cars off-site and walk their recycling into the centre."
Expecting such an influx of recycling could only be a good thing, Cobb said, and showed that the Whanganui community "really cared about our environment and the idea of preserving our land".
"We'll be controlling the traffic, and we will be as safety conscious as possible.
"Restricting contact with others is really important."
From 9am to 10am every day the centre will only be open to those over 65. "We have a lot of clientele in that age range, and we want to be able to protect them as much as possible."
Cobb said a maximum of six vehicles would be allowed in at any one time, and delays were expected.
"It's really important that people stay in their vehicle while they wait, so it might be a good idea to bring a book.
"We've got a full team on deck, so let's have some fun."
The green waste pit can be accessed via the furthest left driveway of the centre, but e-waste and scrap metal won't be accepted during alert level 3. Only eftpos transactions will be permitted.
The centre will be closed between 4.30pm and 9am each day. With Waste Management in Liffiton St and fast food drive-throughs also reopening this week, plans are in place to manage the expected high number of vehicles.
"Queues could form outside these businesses and we want to facilitate resumption of trading in a safe way," Whanganui District Council's senior roading engineer Brent Holmes said.
"To minimise congestion and disruption to traffic flow we will put traffic management measures in place on Tuesday, April 28, near McDonald's and Burger King in Victoria Ave and near the McDonald's in Liffiton St. Traffic management will be in place near KFC on Victoria Ave when it reopens on Thursday, April 30."
In Victoria Ave, entry to McDonald's and Burger King will be only from Victoria Ave. No parking will be allowed outside the premises so queues can form in the parking zones. There will be cones in the centre of Victoria Ave between Liverpool and Dublin streets so traffic cannot cross the centre line to access the drive-throughs.
Burger King's traffic will exit left onto Dublin St. McDonald's traffic will exit left onto Victoria Ave.
In Liffiton St, vehicles will enter the queue for the McDonald's drive-through from Taupō Quay. There will be cones in the middle of the street so vehicles cannot turn right into McDonald's.
