North and Mid Devon agree to share waste boss

Mid Devon district council and North Devon council agreed earlier this month (March 9) to allow Gary Pilling, cleansing and transport manger at Mid Devon, to work between the two councils over the next 12 months.

In his new capacity, which took effect on March 10, Mr Pilling will now also oversee North Devon's waste and recycling services, in a move which the council claims will save it around £30,000 from not having to go through the process of hiring a new head of waste.

The plans being implemented by the two Devon councils come after a BBC report into council spending carried out earlier this month (March 1) warned that environmental services were among the most vulnerable to cuts.

At the time, the Local Government Association claimed that local authorities would do all they could to prevent cuts to frontline services (see letsrecycle.com story).

Commenting on the appointment, council leader, North Devon councillor Des Brailey, said: “Both councils need to make significant cost savings over the next few years. One way to help address this is to share a head of service and streamline management, rather than reduce front line services.

“It also opens up opportunities in the future to work more closely with Mid Devon district council, especially at our new Brynsworthy Environment Centre, which should be completed in the summer.”

The Brynsworthy Environment Centre is being developed by North Devon at the site of an old meat processing plant between Barnstaple and Torrington. When completed the Centre is set to serve as headquarters for the waste and recycling service.

Mr Pilling takes over the head of waste and recycling post from Martin Coles, who retires from North Devon council at the end of March after 17 years with the local authority. Under the arrangement, Mr Piling will have half of his costs covered by North Devon and half covered by Mid Devon.

Mid Devon

Mid Devon district council portfolio holder for street scene, councillor Ray Radford, said: “This arrangement is exactly the kind of thing that we should be doing to share expertise and reduce overheads while protecting frontline services. I've worked with Gary for many years and I know he will rise to this new challenge.”

The arrangements involving Mr Pilling follow a period of change in Mid Devon's waste and recycling set-up, which saw it take over the recycling collection service previously carried out by voluntary organisation Mid Devon Community Recycling (MDCR) at the start of February 2010.

MDCR relinquished control of the service to the district council after being forced to scale back operations due to the economic downturn – starting with its trade waste recycling arm in August 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story).