What North Somerset says
North Somerset Council lists asbestos as a chargeable item at its recycling centres: £11.50 a bag or sheet, paid by card. A bag is a standard 50-litre rubble bag and a sheet is roughly 1800 mm by 900 mm. It has to be double wrapped or bagged in thick polythene and sealed with strong tape, or it is rejected on arrival. The page names no site and doesn't say whether to book, so check the council's booking page or ring. Don't cut, break or drill it. North Somerset Council: what you can take.
A Victorian seaside town, repaired for 150 years
The railway arrived in 1841, and the population rose from 2,103 that year to 23,235 by 1911 (Wikipedia's history of the town). The first seafront terrace, Victoria Buildings, was built in 1840 for wealthy residents and quickly became lodgings for visitors. From the 1850s, large villas for the middle classes went up on the southern slopes of Worlebury Hill, with terraces and semi-detached houses on the low ground behind the front (North Somerset seafront character appraisal).
So a Weston home is often a Victorian or Edwardian building that has seen a century of changes: split into flats or rooms, extended at the back, re-roofed, given new boilers and flues. Those later changes are the places to check. HSE says buildings from after 2000 are unlikely to contain asbestos, and its guide to where asbestos is found is a handy checklist: ceiling coatings, floor tiles, boiler and flue parts, soffits, garage roofs.
If you run a guest house, a house in multiple occupation or a shop, note that HSE's duty to manage asbestos covers non-domestic premises and the shared parts of blocks of flats. See surveys.
What to do next
- One suspect material: get it tested
- A roof, shed or garage: read the roofs guide
- Compare the other councils: tip rules for all three