Council extends big thank-you to Bucks residents during first day of waste sites reopening

Some of the recycling centres have now reopened

The sites at Buckingham, Aston Clinton, Amersham, Beaconsfield and High Heavens in Wycombe have been extremely busy since they opened their doors at 9.00am this morning but Bill said it was great that residents had got the message about the social distancing measures the Council had introduced.

“We pulled out all the stops to get these five sites open and we knew today would be massively busy with people bringing in their essential waste. As expected, traffic queues have built up but Bucks residents have played their part by being considerate, bringing their proof of ID and adhering to the revised site layouts.

“We know things at the five sites will be busy for the foreseeable future, so I hope people will bear with us. My main plea to residents is to consider whether they can wait a few days or longer before visiting their nearest site. The more we can stagger waste coming in, the less traffic queues and the easier it will be for everyone.”

The Council advice is:

Do not visit unless you absolutely have to. Residents should only bring waste that cannot be stored safely without causing risk of injury or harm to health. This may vary from household to household, so residents will need to judge for themselves if it’s absolutely essential to make the journey.

Only Buckinghamshire residents will be allowed to use the sites and ID with proof of address will be needed.

The number of vehicles on site will be limited, so there are likely to be delays in accessing the site and possibly queues outside;

Give yourself plenty of time for your visit. Just like supermarkets, we will limit people on site and this will mean it will take longer.

To keep staff and visitors to the sites safe, social distancing measures are in place and must be strictly observed.

Charges for non-household waste will still apply as normal and only card payments will be accepted.

Bill continued, “These five sites are back up and running as they were, being open from 9.00am to 6.00pm, seven days a week. That means there’s plenty of time to visit over the coming weeks if you can possibly wait.

“Our other sites at Langley, Burnham, Chesham and Rabans Lane, Aylesbury remain closed for the time being. Once we are confident we can operate revised measures effectively at these sites, they will reopen too.

"I'd also like to add my thanks to all the Buckinghamshire Council staff, together with staff from our site operators, FCC Environment, for all they have done to get these sites open so quickly for our residents."

For further information, please check our website before setting off - https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/bin-collection-recycling-and-waste/