Recent changes to the county’s household recycling centre (HRC) services have not resulted in any increase to fly tipping in the area, the county council has said – despite ongoing concerns by members of the public.

In a report released online, the council outlined that the waste disposal service changes introduced on the 1st of April - including the introduction of charges for non-household waste -were achieving their desired effect in reducing the amount of waste to “expected levels”.

Further revisions to services included reducing the amount of opening days at the Burnham, Chesham and Aylesbury (Rabans Lane) centres.

The proposed changes initially faced backlash from concerned members of the public who feared the new charges would incite people to fly tip, following a spate of related incidents in the Buckinghamshire area over the last year.

Bill Chapple OBE, the County Council Member for Planning & Environment, said: “Although people now have to pay to dispose of their non-household waste, cost isn’t onerous – 75% of the waste brought to our sites count as household waste and is completely free to dispose of, and the average transaction for the chargeable waste is just £8.”

Mr Chapple also stated that potential plans for the closure of Burnham HRC have also been drawn into question following the positive results.

“It’s still early days, but the indications are that the changes that we had to make to the county’s household recycling centre service are having the desired result in terms of cost savings achieved. That’s why I’m really pleased to be able to make the recommendation to Cabinet that the closure of Burnham recycling centre is no longer required in order to meet our financial targets.”

The council are set to make their decision on September the 9th.