In 2026, Rother District Council (RDC) will have a duty to collect Food Waste as part of our Waste Collection strategy. To accommodate this RDC are leasing the Sidley Depot site from East Sussex County Council (ESCC).
The main purpose of the Sidley Depot site will be a continuation of its former use – as a depot for overnight parking of vehicles, and for daytime parking of staff vehicles whilst staff are on waste collection rounds. Biffa will also use the site for maintenance and repair of some of their fleet of vehicles.
The project will entail the demolition of all existing buildings on site and establishing a new workshop building that will be designed to allow for the repair and maintenance of waste vehicles. The proposed building will include a small area for administrative staff, welfare plus storage.
Project Timeline
| Key Milestones | Milestone Dates |
|---|---|
| Demolition Consent received | April 2025 |
| Demolition of existing buildings | May 2025 |
| Planning Consent received | December 2025 |
| Decontamination of site | February 2026 |
| Planned Construction Commencement | February 2026 |
| Minor works on site/Portakabin installation | February/March 2026 |
| Biffa food waste service commences | 31st March 2026 |
| New workshop contractor tender | Spring 2026 |
| New workshop construction starts | Summer 2026 |
| Workshop completion | Spring 2027 |
Our new weekly food waste service has begun from the Sidley Depot site. There is a temporary site set up for Biffa whilst we procure a contractor to build the permanent workshop facility.
Permission was granted at December 11th 2025 Planning Committee for the building of a new vehicle maintenance workshop, administrative and welfare buildings, and associated operation equipment and parking allocation.
The report and committee meeting can be viewed online here: Agenda for Planning Committee on Thursday 11th December 2025, 9.30 am – Rother District Council
Contamination contractors will be boring trial holes around the site to identify the extent of any land contamination.
The demolition of all the buildings has been completed!
The removal of asbestos and demolition of all the buildings has commenced.
The PND was approved at Committee – view the decision.
The Prior Notification for Demolition (PND) was submitted to our Planning Team.
Get in touch
If you have any queries about the project, please contact projects@rother.gov.uk.
