AN ARTISTIC schoolgirl is welcoming visitors to Bridport’s new waste management centre after winning a competition.

St Mary’s Primary School pupil Eva Harp, created the winning poster for a Dorset Waste Partnership competition to welcome people to the newly-opened Broomhills site.

Bridport artist Flora Jamieson picked the nine-year-old’s bold and colourful design as the winner out of 70 entries from local schoolchildren.

Eva’s picture urges householders to recycle more and help ‘keep the world very clean and green’.

As part of the competition, Flora also visited local schools to run arts workshops for children using recycled materials. 

She said: “The brilliant standard of entries showed how passionate children are about protecting our planet and made picking a winner very hard.

“Eva’s drawing stood out as it combines a positive message about recycling with some bold and beautiful images.”

The facility opened its gates last month, ending a 22-year wait for a new site to meet the area’s waste needs.

It combines a modern household recycling centre and a waste transfer station, where materials are loaded onto lorries to be taken for recycling.

Karyn Punchard, interim director of the DWP, said: “Recycling is all about preserving our world’s resources for future generations, so we really wanted to involve local schools in creating something special for the site.

“The local community now has a modern, accessible facility where they can recycle more, seven days a week. 

“It has also enabled us to complete the countywide roll-out of the new, improved Recycle for Dorset collection service in the area.”

The accessible, split-level site allows residents to drive up and drop their waste into containers without having to climb steps.

The eco-friendly construction includes a green roof, solar panels and low-energy LED lights. The timber-clad walls and extensive landscaping will also help it blend into the surrounding area. 

The new centre replaces the small household recycling centre on South Street, which residents had used since 1998.

Due to its town centre location, it accepted a limited range of materials and was closed on Sundays. 

The new centre is open seven days a week.