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Kenilworth and Southam Liberal DemocratsLocal party for Kenilworth & Southam constituency |
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Tory Waste Scheme Shambles
May 26, 2008 8:37 PM
With only three months to go before Stratford District Council's new refuse and recycling scheme is due to start, it has become clear that the scheme proposed by the Conservative-led Council will not be ready. At the meeting of the District Council's Conservative Executive on Thursday 22nd May, red-faced Tory councillors were forced to accept that the plant needed to receive and process mixed waste won't be ready in time for the August deadline, and that the new District-wide waste scheme cannot go ahead as planned.
In a panic attempt to patch together a short-term solution the Conservatives have considered six possible options, of which they've chosen Option 5, described in the official report as "high environmental impact - increased biodegradable waste to landfill". The cost increase will be £180,000, to be met by local council tax payers, and the overall strategic fit is condemned as "Poor". The interim scheme puts kitchen/garden waste, which should have been recycled, into landfill for August, September and October, and then stops the collection of garden waste completely until April 2009.
Now Liberal Democrat opposition group leader Hazel Wright has challenged Conservatives to explain the shambles to local residents.
Hazel Wright explains: 'Last year, the Conservatives decided that the best way of dealing with rubbish collection under a new contract was a three-bin system with different collections every other week, starting in August. Warwickshire County Council and the District Council, unfortunately both controlled by the Conservatives, should have been working together for the past year to put in place collection and processing of mixed garden and kitchen waste. It now seems that planning permission for the County Council's In-Vessel Composting (IVC) plant has not even been submitted, let alone obtained. This means that the plant will not be available to receive the kitchen/garden waste from the start of the new three bin system in August.'
The Liberal Democrat opposition at Stratford has been calling for more detail of the proposals, though until now the Conservatives have refused to admit that they scheme is in trouble. Hazel Wright said "For months now the Liberal Democrat opposition has been asking questions about how the scheme will be implemented, and the Conservatives have refused to give us straight answers. Now we know why - it isn't going to be ready. The scheme appears to be completely dependent upon a contract with Warwickshire County Council, the process for which can only be described as being out of control."
"This is bad news for the environment and bad news for District residents. Instead of getting better recycling rates, compostable rubbish is now going to go into landfill, with a massive increase in landfill tax charged to the Council, and the huge cost of this Tory failure will be added to council tax bills. And on top of this they are going to spend more council tax-payers' money - £25,000 - telling residents about the temporary arrangements. Presumably they will then have to tell them again when the arrangements change for a second time.''
"The Lib Dems want to take a constructive approach to the difficulties the administration have brought on itself. The Executive meeting did not fully explore and debate the range of possibilities, so we intend to call for a scrutiny review of the decision to see if a better way forward can be found."
''This mess once again reveals Tory claims to be the party of the environment to be absolute rubbish.''
For additional comment contact Hazel Wright 01527 852899.
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