A consultation as been put out by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on proposed additional powers for the London Mayor. Included in this consultation are possible new powers for the Mayor concerning waste management and planning.
” The Mayor should be ashamed that the capital has the second worst household recycling rate in the country “
– Darren Johnson, London Assembly
The consultation follows suggestions by the Mayor's office in October that the city create a single waste disposal authority, which would be controlled by the Mayor himself (see letsrecycle.com story).
The single waste authority is one of the options considered by the government, which stated that the authority would be a functional body of the Greater London Authority. It is also suggested that the Mayor be given an appropriate degree of oversight over waste collection contracts in order to ensure collection plans match with the operational strategy of the authority.
Other suggested options include a statutory waste authority, not under the Mayor's reign. A representative of each borough and the Corporation of London would sit on the committee with a representative of the Mayor also possibly present.
Government has also said that the Mayor may be given more power for waste planning, with all waste streams planning in the capital under his responsibility. In this option the Mayor's office would have the power to identify specific sites through a regional waste plan and compulsorily purchase land.
A statutory joint waste planning authority is also given as another option along with the possibility of having statutory sub-regional joint waste planning authorities.
The consultation runs until February 22 2006.
Ashamed
The Mayor's waste plans were criticised this week by the London Assembly, which claimed that he should be “ashamed” of the state of waste management in the capital.
The Assembly's environment committee this week published its response to the Mayor's consultation on draft alterations to the London Plan policies on waste and minerals.
The committee has suggested that considerable changes are needed at local level to achieve recycling targets, new and improved waste management facilities and increased efficiency.
Darren Johnson, chair of the environment committee, said: “Considering the EU Directive was introduced in April 1999 it beggars belief that London is still unable to meet prescribed targets. The Mayor should be ashamed that the capital has the second worst household recycling rate in the country.
“We have been urging him for years for a greater commitment to meeting the targets, so why has it taken him until now to come up with a solution? If the EU fine is imposed he needs to tell Londoners why they are bearing an unnecessary penalty that could have been avoided,” he added.
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