Waste Management Planning Guide (Former Chiltern, South Bucks & Wycombe areas)

As per the policy for the council, all new dwellings within the county will operate under an alternate week collection (AWC) service. ‘General domestic rubbish’ (residual waste) will be collected one week; ‘recycling’ consisting of (1) paper/cardboard and (2) mixed materials collected the following week. ‘Food recycling’ is collected separately every week. ‘Garden waste’ (restrictions apply), is collected fortnightly on ‘recycling’ week.

Garden Waste* – is a chargeable subscription service for residents in the Chiltern and South Bucks Areas authorities. For residents living in the Wycombe Area the service is currently free of charge

The ‘standard’ suite of containers provided to low rise properties (houses) are:

Container dimensions can be found in Appendix A.

Smaller 140L bins are available on request. Larger recycling and residual bins are available, subject to application. Policy 8 (Chiltern and Wycombe) details the provision of larger bins. Likewise, Policy 7 makes provision for South Bucks Area.

Appropriate space should be given to accommodate the suite of waste receptacles, with an aim to minimise their visual impact and integrate this into the design of the property/development. Sufficient space must be given at the property boundary to place containers out for collection, so as not to cause an obstruction to pedestrians and/or road users. Residents are not permitted to leave waste containers on the public highway after collections are complete. All domestic houses must have sufficient access routes for residents to transfer their bins from the storage space, to the collection point; this may require where appropriate, dropped kerbs and a solid, even finish to the pathway

Where the proposed development incorporates a private road and/or gated access to one or more properties the collection point will be where the private road meets the public highway, or on the outside of the gated entrance. Where large developments are planned please contact the Planning Authority for pre-application advice.

Gated developments should be provided with either:

adequate storage space in each property as above with a bin ‘drop off’ point located at the public highway boundary, see below; or • a communal bin store located at the public highway boundary in accordance with the requirements given for Apartments and Flats

Gated developments should not result in any height obstruction/restrictions for vehicle access, including emergency services.

In some circumstances it may be necessary to access collection points by traversing private roads. The Council will seek to secure an indemnity waiving responsibility for damage caused to the road surface. Planning approval may include conditions, which include standards expected for road construction.

Where houses are provided with individual storage space, plans should include sufficient space for occupiers to temporarily ‘drop off’ their waste containers at the collection point on collection day. The drop off point should be large enough to accommodate the standard suite of containers as prescribed above, multiplied by the total number of properties.

Drop off points should be located at the public highway boundary, ideally on the outside of gated development for ease of access. Consideration should be given to secure the ‘drop off point’, to avoid waste being dumped (for which the collection authority will bear no responsibility for removing). However, a drop off point may be located inside of the gates providing the following conditions are met:

• no part of the drop-off point can be more than 10 metres away from rear of the collection vehicle, measured from the nearest safe place that the collection vehicle can stop
• access for collection operatives can be gained during business hours and waste containers brought safely to the collection vehicle without obstruction
• the pathway from the drop off point to the rear of the vehicle is flat, free from steps or kerbs and has a solid, even surface