London Mayor threatened with “costly” recycling court clash

The Conservative-run council described the Mayor's formal direction that it replace a recycling centre sold off to property developers as an “outrageous attack on a local borough's right to make decisions on behalf of their electorate”.

The move angered the Mayor, who wants hundreds of new recycling centres built in London, and not the closure of existing facilities. Mr Livingstone issued a formal Direction to the borough on Wednesday to replace the centre – his second ever legal demand made to a borough over a waste issue (see letsrecycle.com story).

Enfield, which insists the Carterhatch Recycling Centre was surplus to requirements because not enough householders were using it, is now seeking “urgent legal advice” over the matter.

Powers
Cllr Terry Neville, Enfield's cabinet member for environment, streetscene and parks, said the Mayor was only taking this action against the borough to back up his aspiration to take extra waste management powers for the whole of London.

Cllr Neville said: “The Mayor says the action by Enfield justifies the need to give him more powers over waste – nothing could be further from the truth. It's simply an outrageous attack on a local borough's right to make decisions on behalf of their electrorate.

“Unfortunately for London's long-suffering Council Taxpayers, the Mayor could be fighting another costly court battle – sadly at their expense,” Cllr Neville said.

Enfield said the amount of waste handled by the Carterhatch Recycling Centre was just 8,600 tonnnes in its last year – less than half the 20,000 tonnes taken in the year before. The remaining Barrowell Recycling Centre has a capacity of 40,000 tonnes, which council officers said “could more than cope” with the needs of residents.

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Council officers explained that the use of the two recycling centres in the borough had fallen as a result of new door-to-door recycling services being introduced.

The borough is now recycling 28% of its waste according to the council, putting Enfield in the top six London boroughs for recycling.

Cllr Neville said: “Why Ken has decided to issue this direction at this time is puzzling. The fact is that we don't need Carterhatch. He wants us to provide convenient facilities for residents to recycle – we already do – we have the most comprehensive door-to-door collection service in London and a free collection of household furniture – what could be more customer-friendly?

“We also have one of the best recycling rates in the capital. All of this means it is very difficult to justify the need to spend up to a million pounds of residents' hard-earned money on a new facility to satisfy Ken Livingstone's ludicrous demand,” Cllr Neville added.