The chairman of the Southern Recycling Centre board says he still can’t say when the ’reuse’ area will open.

The area, part of the Southern Amenity Site on Castletown Road, Port St Mary, has been shut for more than a year because of safety concerns. The land underneath the building had begun to sink.

Jerry Ludford-Brooks says the board is seeking quotes for repairs, after an engineer’s report showed the issue wasn’t as serious as first thought.

A board meeting will be held later this month, after which Mr Ludford-Brooks hopes progress will be made on reinstating the popular area.

The popularity of the ’reuse’ area can be a problem in itself, he told local democracy reporter Ewan Gawne.

’One of our worries is the amount of traffic it generates.

’We have some people coming three or four ties a day and we have to accommodate those vehicles.’

Changes have been made at the site, with a new layout established to address the problem of larger vehicles manoeuvring at the centre, which had caused a few ’near misses’.

Lorries are now made to come before the public opening time at 10 am to offload waste.

The administration of the centre has also changed hands, between two of the six southern local authorities which run it.

As of this month, Port Erin Commissioners now manages the facility, following a tender process in which the authority was the only bidder.

Mr Ludford-Brooks said users should see no difference in the way the centre is run.