Annual Report 2025 to 2026

Buckinghamshire’s natural and historic landscape is one of its greatest assets, with large areas of the Chilterns National Landscape, significant Green Belt, and two National Trails running through the county. Maintaining this beauty is an ongoing challenge due to issues like littering, fly tipping and the impact of major infrastructure projects. We continue to protect our countryside, including areas of outstanding natural beauty and Green Belt, through the ‘Brown before Green’ principle, and the delivery of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy. As we meet the need for more homes and infrastructure for our growing population, we are managing growth responsibly by using appropriate surplus public-sector land for market, affordable and keyworker housing, helping to safeguard and enhance our natural environment. Aylesbury Garden Town exemplifies this approach, placing green spaces and the natural environment at the heart of future development.

Our corporate plan set out our aspirations to ensure:

• We address climate change, improve our environment and create economic opportunities for clean growth.
• We reduce our county’s environmental impact by promoting sustainability, reducing waste and increasing recycling and reuse.
• We improve air quality and people’s health, by reducing emissions and encouraging green transport options.

The achievements listed for this priority sets out how we have worked towards achieving this in 2025/26.

• Handled 9,671 valid planning applications, deciding 9,786 and giving 1,366 pre-application responses
• Assessed 50 Land Drainage consent applications
• Local Heritage List Project won the 2025 Heritage Prize, with Fleet Marston Roman town centre given top protection
• Achieved a 73.6% reduction in the council’s net carbon emissions against the 1990 baseline (in 24/25)
• Expanded the Council Land Tree Planting Programme, with over 233,000 trees planted as at 31 March 2026
• Secured over £3 million from the Warm Homes Local Grant, supporting energy efficiency and wellbeing
• Provided over £205k in grants for energy efficiency measure installations in 10 eligible households
• Provided Project Groundwater Innovation Fund grants to community projects in Chesham and Chalfont St. Peter
• Undertook public consultations on 4 Conservation Area reviews in Aylesbury, Buckingham, Haddenham and Winslow
• Published the Local Nature Recovery Strategy following public consultation
• Implemented food waste bin roll out and collections to 26,600 flats in Buckinghamshire, engaging with residents and landlords
• Recorded over 1,280,000 visits annually to 10 Household Waste Recycling Centres, with a customer satisfaction rate of 98%
• Successfully collected circa 627,000 bins a week with a very low 0.06% missed rate
• Took firm action with:
  • 72 fly-tipping Fixed Penalty Notices
  • 293 littering FPNs
  • 12 prosecutions
• Waste Enforcement team attended 3 events and completed 38 Safer Streets patrols with TVP as part of their “Safer Streets Campaign”
• Supported local litter-picking groups by supplying equipment and collecting waste after events, with 1,766 community litter picks completed
• Partnered with Bucks Skills Hub to deliver the fourth Green Schools Challenge for 6 schools
• Refurbished the Guildhall and Shelburne Room, improving a heritage asset for civic functions
• Progressed the £120m four-year improvement programme to highways network, completing 205 carriageway and footway projects
• Completed repairs on over 10,000 potholes across the county’s road network
• Continued the gully-clearing programme, maintaining over 85,000 gullies to mitigate the impact of flooding
• Dealt with 2,600 emergency callouts, responding 24/7
• Across more than 2,100 miles of Buckinghamshire’s Rights of Way network:
  • 90 bridges and almost 400 signs and waymarks installed
  • 1,100 yards of new surfacing
  • Around 140 surface or drainage resolutions completed
• Buckinghamshire Streetworks Permit Scheme processed 46,041 permits and issued 6,118 FPNs in 2025/26, holding public utility companies to account for their work on roads
• Secured DfT approval for a Lane Rental Scheme in 2026 to improve roadworks coordination, allowing charges of up to £2,500 per day for works on busiest roads
• Delivered a major road safety initiative at Castlefield as part of the Opportunity Bucks Programme, installing junctions, round top humps, speed cushions and a chicane to reduce speeding and anti-social driving
• Undertaking extensive restoration of Marlow Bridge to preserve structural integrity and safety for users
• SEALR Phase 2 and the Stoke Mandeville Relief Road opened to traffic in November 2025
• 93 local councils undertaking devolved services — an increase of six
• Invested £2.05m to support public bus routes alongside £1.9m DfT Bus Service Improvement grant funding
• Recorded a 6% growth in usage across core bus services and concessionary fare journeys
• 82 schools signed up to the ModeShift STARS programme, promoting active travel — the highest for any large authority in the country
• Recorded:
  • 270 daily users on the Pick Me Up Demand Responsive Transport service in High Wycombe
  • 50 daily users on the Village Connect service in the Aylesbury area