Joy Blizzard, chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), has stepped down from the role several weeks earlier than originally anticipated.
Ms Blizzard originally due to finish at the end of the month following elections for a new chair announced on Friday (January 3) that she was leaving the role and resigning from the executive with immediate effect after more than 10 years at the organisation.
She said on Friday: I was due to finish as chair at the end of January, but a secondment opportunity has come up and therefore I will be standing down as chair and resigning from the executive today.
Nominations are currently being sought for a new chair and an announcement will be made shortly, according to LARAC.
Ms Blizzard started at the organisation as the South West representative more than a decade ago, before working as communications officer and finally being elected chair in January 2009.
She was then re-elected for a final, fifth year as chair in 2013, explaining at the time that it was slightly unusual for a chair to do more than four years, but that it was becoming increasingly difficult to get people to stand for the role amid tight council budgets (see letsrecycle.com story).
Commenting on Friday, Ms Blizzard said: It has been a privilege to represent recycling officers across the UK and to have been involved with LARAC for the last 10 years. However, Im looking forward to having my weekends and evenings back, and also to taking my head below the parapet. I have worked with some fantastic people over the last few years and I will miss them, especially Colin and Jenny in the LARAC office but now its time for a change.
Colleagues
LARAC colleagues praised Ms Blizzards work representing the organisation at meetings with government ministers and at European level, as well as revamping the annual LARAC conference.
‘It has been a privilege to represent recycling officers across the UK and to have been involved with LARAC for the last 10 years.’
Joy Blizzard
Vice-chair at LARAC, Andrew Bird, commented I want to thank Joy for all the help and support she has provided to LARAC and its members over the last five years, as chair, and from a personal point the guidance she has provided to me as an executive member.
Joy has shown real enthusiasm and energy in supporting LARAC’s members and shaping the organisation in being more sustainable moving forward, in these difficult economic times. Joy will be a hard act to follow for the person who succeeds her, and I wish her all the best for the future.
The end of Ms Blizzards tenure follows the appointment in November of former chair Lee Marshall as the new LARAC chief executive, who will take up the role in April 2014 on a three-year contract (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Marshall will take over some duties which previously carried out by the chair. This is because outgoing Ms Blizzard had a one-day-per-week secondment arrangement from her job as waste initiatives officer at Shropshire council to help her carry out LARAC duties, which is unlikely to be possible for the new chair due to council budgetary constraints.
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Fellow vice-chair, Mark Foxall, also thanked Ms Blizzard for her outstanding contribution to LARAC and the local authority recycling sector.
He commented: Having worked alongside Joy for many years I know first-hand the dedication and commitment she has given to LARAC, the result of which has seen the organisation mature and prosper and come to be recognised and respected within the waste industry. I wish to take the opportunity to wish Joy a well-deserved rest from her LARAC duties and all the very best for the future.
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