Opinion : Are the planned closures of two Household Recycling Centres in Buckinghamshire a cut too far?

The New Year has hardly started before we hear news of closures and cutbacks of publicly funded services.

Yours truly is of course referring to the news of the closure of the Household Recycling Centres (HRC’s) in Bledlow and Burnham covered in the item that appeared last week in the news section of this site headlined ‘Two household recycling centres axed in Buckinghamshire as part of plan to save £1.25m‘.

Once again cost savings have taken priority over delivering services. What a shame.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the cutbacks were being made where money is apparently being wasted such as messing up Wycombe town centre with the ‘Masterplan’ or letting the old library building in Queen Victoria Road rot for ten years.

One point in the news article that my good self noted was the introduction of charges at the remaining HRC’s for non-household waste (except green  garden waste). This, in principle, is a good idea and something that should have been done years ago.

However the charges should only apply if the person dumping the waste has turned up in a van or larger vehicle. Surely those who are genuinely doing DIY at home and turn up in a car to get rid of some waste should be allowed to dump it for free?

I have lost count of the number of times that my good self has turned up at the HRC in Booker only to find men wearing dirty builders clothes unloading rubble, bricks, wood and other obvious building waste from the back of a van.

The vans not only bung up the parking spaces but it seems the traders can seemingly dispose of trade related waste at will without being challenged by those supervising the dump.

Surely it would be better to limit the types of vehicle that can enter the HRC? For example banning vans, small lorries and pick-up trucks and imposing fines on drivers who enter the boundary of the HRC in such a vehicle.

If trade waste is to be disposed of at an HRC then should there be certain hours that it can be done? For example after 3.00pm.

The closure of the two HRC’s is a sham indeed I pity those who used the Bledlow HRC as once it’s closed they will have to travel to Booker or Aylesbury. Think of all the wasted petrol and pollution this will cause.

HRC’s are a public service and another example that sadly over the years the services we receive have been cut back again and again.

If cutbacks are to be made then let’s see the selling off of the large town centre based offices that have become powerhouses of the powers that be.

The Ivory towers should be converted into flats for the homeless and new bases for back office functions could be set up in further afield towns to create jobs and boost local economies.

What do you think?

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