Plans to replace the Devonshire recycling plant with a playground are going ahead, after the previous proposal had been discarded. Government had announced plans to erect a community playground in the area during last year’s Throne Speech.

That development was supported by the Bermuda National Trust, who described the former building as an eyesore.

The Devonshire recycling plant was formally closed in 2007 when the Material Recovery Facility opened at the Government Quarry on Harrington Sound Road in Hamilton Parish, and subsequently damaged in a 2008 fire.

Despite falling out of use as a recycling facility, the property was used to store tin, aluminium and glass materials in 2015 when Hurricane Gonzalo damaged the Hamilton Parish facility.

The move drew the ire of area residents who complained about a “mountain” of blue bags and rats, and environmentalists, who said it was damaging public confidence in the recycling process.

Meanwhile, environmental charity Greenrock expressed concern that the build-up of material could negatively impact the public’s faith in the island’s recycling programme.