Faced by a national problem which means that the amount of waste produced every hour of every day could fill up the Albert Hall, East Sussex’s Cabinet has decided a modified Waste Local Plan is the only way forward for the county.
"We are right to continue with what is being proposed today,” Lead Member for Transport and the Environment, Matthew Lock, told the Cabinet meeting, "It is the only sensible and workable way forward for the county.”
His views were endorsed by the Leader of the Council, Peter Jones who said, "We are not prepared to sit by and put off difficult decisions. We have a responsibility to the community not to see rubbish mounting in the streets.”
The original ten year Waste Local Plan, drawn up by East Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove, proposed new waste facilities, more recycling and increased waste processing for energy in a bid to stamp out the overuse of landfill. A recent report by an independent planning inspector largely supported the plan’s proposals but suggested some changes. These included expanding the waste facilities at Pebsham, dropping the site at Mountfield and raising recycling targets.
East Sussex Cabinet felt that it could not support an expansion at Pebsham . "Our report specifically rejects the list that the inspector proposed for Pebsham and instead we will be left with a modern, cleaner plant that sorts and transfers waste with less traffic movement," said Councillor Jones, "We also intend to move on with the country park with our senior officers in talks with colleagues from Hastings and Rother on the best way forward.”
The Cabinet agreed to drop Mountfield Mine from the plan but rejected the inspector’s suggested recycling rates which included lowering the 2005/06 target by a massive 5% and bringing forward the 2015 recovery target to 2010. Cabinet felt that the current tough targets, already above those set by the government, were practical and achievable
Councillor Lock stressed that everyone in the county had a part to play to meet those targets and to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. He called for an educational centre to be set up at Pebsham so that people could come and see the problems caused by landfill and realise how they could help to reduce the waste mountain.
"We want to do everything we can to encourage recycling in the throw away era in which we live. We are working together with borough and district councils to achieve the current targets and it would be unrealistic to set targets that we could not meet.
He continued: "This Waste Local Plan is about self sufficiency for East Sussex and Brighton & Hove and we will deal with our waste, not anyone else’s. With local people’s help we can maximise recycling and with waste processing we could reduce the amount that goes to landfill by around three quarters. But recycling alone is not enough. We need to build new waste plants and use new technology to deal with the increase in waste and this includes incineration.”
The Cabinet’s proposals will now go to the East Sussex County Council meeting on December 7th and will also be considered by Brighton & Hove City Council. The public should be consulted on the latest draft of the plan in February 2005.
Notes to editors
Key recommendations:
North Quay, Newhaven. The inspector recommended that this site be retained in the plan for a site for incineration. Cabinet accepted this recommendation.
Mountfield Mine, Robertsbridge – the inspector recommended that this site be deleted from the plan. Cabinet accepted this.
Pebsham – the inspector recommended further uses at Pebsham, for example waste transfer, materials recovery facilities, composting, anaerobic digestion, mechanical/biological treatment and thermal treatment but not incineration. Cabinet has only agreed to include the proposals for waste transfer and materials recovery and rejected the rest.
Ashdown Brickworks, Bexhill. The inspector accepted the site for landfill. Cabinet agreed but with a detailed assessment of capacity and traffic at the review stage
The inspector suggested various additional waste sites, for example Broomgrove in Ore, for a variety of uses. Cabinet rejected these so there would be no delay in completing the plan.
The inspector’s report on the Waste Local Plan contained his conclusions on the objections made at the Inquiry and those made in writing during the consultation on the two deposit drafts of the Waste Local Plan.
His conclusions were made taking into account that the plan provides a ten-year land-use planning framework for facilities which should deal with waste arising in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove.
Any proposal for a waste management facility would need separate planning permission as well as authorisation from the Environment Agency.
Further appraisals of all issues will be undertaken as part of a review of the plan to develop a Waste Development Framework, a new style government plan for all local authorities, which should be ready within three years of adoption of the current plan
Reference:
04/410/TH
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