Coronavirus mobile testing site comes to Buckingham from Wednesday, 13 May

© Stewart Turkington for Bracknell Forest Council
Pictured: Stock photo of coronavirus mobile testing site.
© Stewart Turkington for Bracknell Forest Council

Buckingham will be the location of the next coronavirus mobile testing site in the county, which will run for up to three days from Wednesday, 13 May.

It will operate from the Swan Pool and Leisure Centre site in London Road, MK18 1AE.

This is in addition to other local and regional coronavirus testing sites, which are still available for residents in Buckinghamshire to use.

Mobile testing sites have been in operation at High Wycombe and Aylesbury over the last week, but both of these have now moved on.

Anyone who is eligible and wishes to be tested at the Buckingham mobile site must arrange an appointment on the national booking website first – https://self-referral.test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk.  Tests must be booked and are not available on a ‘drop-in’ basis. You can also book a test at a different site via this website.

Only certain categories of people are eligible for testing at this time, like NHS or other essential workers (and some household members), or people over 65 with coronavirus symptoms. More details of these categories are listed below.

People being tested must bring appropriate ID (like an NHS ID card) or a letter/ email from their employer to confirm their key worker status.

The site, which will be operated by military personnel, will operate a one-way system in and out of the parking area, so anyone using it should please take care to follow the signage.

Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Community Engagement at Buckinghamshire Council, said: “It’s very encouraging to have another mobile testing site running in the county, so soon after those in High Wycombe and Aylesbury. Testing is vital as we work together to stop the spread of coronavirus. We would urge anyone who thinks they should be tested, and who is eligible, to please book a slot at the Buckingham site.”

Dr Raj Bajwa, GP and Chair of NHS Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group, added: “Testing is essential to help keep NHS services running smoothly during this outbreak, and to help vulnerable people stay as safe as possible from coronavirus infection. These mobile sites will offer a great boost to our testing capabilities in Buckinghamshire, so we hope they will be well-used by those that need them.”

Tests are being offered to the following categories of people, and, in some cases, members of their household. They are not available for other members of the general public at this time:

·       All those working on the frontline in health and social care (with or without symptoms)

·       Patients in the NHS and residents in care homes (with or without symptoms)

·       All essential workers with symptoms

·       Anyone over 65 with symptoms

·       Anyone who goes into work because they cannot work from home (e.g. construction workers) and has symptoms

·       Anyone who has symptoms and lives with someone who meets any of the above criteria

You can find more details about eligibility for testing here – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-getting-tested

Five Bucks household recycling centres set to reopen

social distancing guidelines
The experience of visiting our household recycling centres will be different. This is what visitors can expect

Buckinghamshire Council has confirmed the reopening of five of its nine household recycling centres to give residents the chance to dispose of waste that cannot be safely stored at home.

From Wednesday 6 May, the Amersham, Aston Clinton, Buckingham, Beaconsfield and High Wycombe sites will open seven days a week, 9am-6pm – the usual summer opening hours. The other four sites will remain closed for the foreseeable future. To stay within the government’s coronavirus guidelines on essential travel, however, it is important that journeys to these sites during lockdown are only made if waste cannot be stored for longer at home without causing risk to health or safety. 

The health of residents and staff is always the highest priority, so everyone visiting the reopened sites will be expected to observe the new social distancing measures that have been put in place. This includes traffic management to control the number of visitors at any one time. The Council warns that this could lead to extensive traffic queues building up at site entrances, so it’s well worth delaying a visit until things are a bit quieter.

Bill Chapple OBE, Buckinghamshire Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “The decision to reopen the recycling centres has been taken after listening to residents’ concerns on extra waste accumulation during the lockdown period. We want to ensure that people who have been struggling to manage their waste are able to dispose of it properly.

“However, I must warn visitors who do feel that a trip is essential that their visit will be different from normal due to the measures we are putting in place to protect both visitors and our staff. I would also stress that we are only open for residents of Buckinghamshire and will be asking visitors for identification to prove their address.

“As part of the need to ensure social distancing, we have had to limit the number of visitors on site at any one time, so long queues to access the site are likely. I’d ask people to bear in mind that the five sites that are reopening will be open from 9 am to 6 pm seven days a week, so it isn’t necessary to rush there at the first opportunity.

“Staff will be on hand to ensure that the social distancing guidelines are adhered to, therefore we urge all visitors to be patient and leave plenty of time for their visit.

“Fly tipping is a crime. Buckinghamshire Council takes a zero tolerance approach to fly tipping and will prosecute wherever possible. However, there has been some concern amongst residents that the closure of the recycling centres has led some people to either fly tip or hire unlicensed individuals to take away their rubbish. With the reopening of five sites, it means that anyone with accumulated waste that cannot safely be stored can now dispose of it properly.”

These are the things to remember when visiting the reopened household recycling centres:

· You should only visit the site if you cannot safely store your waste at home.

· All residents visiting the site will need to observe the social distancing measures now in place. This also means no assistance for unloading can be provided.

· There will be limits on the number of vehicles allowed on site to allow for social distancing. There may be delays accessing the site and possibly queues of waiting vehicles.

· Only one person per vehicle where possible.

· Residents will be asked for their proof of address. Only Buckinghamshire residents will be allowed to use the sites.

· The existing permit system is still in place, but trailers are temporarily banned from sites.

· In line with Public Health England guidance, residents who are vulnerable, or who are showing symptoms which may indicate coronavirus, should not visit household recycling centres.

· We will continue to charge for non-household waste brought to sites.

· Because of the higher staffing levels required to ensure social distancing, we cannot open Aylesbury (Rabans Lane), Chesham, Burnham and Langley sites for the time being. These sites remain closed so please do not visit.

Green waste collections to restart and waste sites stand ready to open.

Buckinghamshire Council will restart green waste collections across the county from 11 May and also stand ready to open five of its nine household waste sites as soon as the Government gives the green light nationally.

The moves to help residents across the county deal with their additional waste were announced at Cabinet today (30 April) by Bill Chapple OBE, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change.

Today’s announcement follows the closedown of both areas at the start of the coronavirus outbreak due to government guidance, as well as staff shortages due to sickness and those needing to self-isolate. However Bill Chapple said things had improved sufficiently to reinstate the two services.

“Coronavirus has had a massive impact on all our waste services but waste teams from across the county have worked tremendously hard to prioritise collections and keep waste and recycling bin collections going. However, we’re now fighting back and it’s my intention to get services operating somewhere close to normality wherever I can, subject to current conditions continuing.

“Bringing back green waste collections will really help residents tend to their gardens during the lockdown. I know collection crews will be working hard particularly on the initial rounds, so could I ask residents to be considerate and avoid over-filling bins or putting additional garden waste out alongside.”

Residents’ normal garden bin collection days will stay the same but the Council advises checking their website first just to make sure nothing has changed. Collection times may however change, so residents are asked to put bins out by 6.30am. In addition, no subscribers will be out of pocket while green waste hasn’t been collected as contract extensions or reduced priced renewals are being introduced. The Council will also be reinstating its bulky waste collection service across the county.

Bill continued, “To allow residents to dispose of other essential rubbish that might be harmful to store, we’ve also been working behind the scenes to prepare five of our most suitable household waste sites for reopening. These sites are at Amersham, Aston Clinton, Beaconsfield, Buckingham and High Heavens in High Wycombe and are best able to deal with queuing vehicles.

“We’re now just waiting for the Government’s final authorisation to open and this is expected within the next couple of weeks.

“That said, sites will look and operate differently to comply with strict social distancing requirements. We’ll be adopting a ‘supermarket style’ of operation with strict controls on the number of people entering the site at any one time and marked off areas to maintain two metre gaps. 

“As soon as we get the green light, we’ll publish more detailed guidance on when these sites will reopen and how they will operate so residents can be absolutely clear on what they need to do.    

“It’s been a concerted effort from the whole waste team to find the best ways to reintroduce services given the extraordinary times we’re in and I really hope it will provide some much-needed help for local residents going forward.”

For more information, please visit www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk