Following a Best Value review, Commission inspectors gave Pembrokeshire's waste service a two star grade (out of a possible three), calling it a ‘good service with promising prospects for improvement’.
The report praised the council for its ‘wide range of facilities provided for the public’ which includes 72 ‘bring sites’ for recycling and six amenity sites. It said: “Performance is good, placing the service within the top 25% performing local authorities for recycling, composting, the amount of waste going to landfill and the number of missed refuse collections.”
Pembrokeshire county council announced earlier this year that it had reached a recycling rate of 15.62% in 2002 (see letsrecycle.com story), putting it well ahead of its first target of 15% by March 2004.
By 2010, the county will have to reach a 40% rate, but it is to receive 2.9 million from the Welsh Assembly to improve its composting and recycling programme. As well as plans for a kerbside collection scheme and a 'stone bank' for building waste, the council is working with community group FRAME (Furniture Recycled and Managed Effectively) to recycle furniture.
Audit Commission inspectors reported a high level of satisfaction displayed by both businesses and the public for the council's waste service, but there were questions asked about waste minimisation in the county. Pembrokeshire is in the top 25% in Wales for waste collected per person, at 562kg per head per year. The council has blamed this on the seasonal influx of tourists in the county.
The county's trade waste collection service, running at a loss of 37,000 a year, also came in for criticism, as did the high levels of fly-tipping. The report suggested that the fly-tipping levels have not been helped by a lack of enforcement, noting that “no council prosecutions have taken place for over six years”.
Councillor Mary Hughes, leader of Pembrokeshire county council, said the authority is looking for ways to over come this concern. She said: “We are actively engaged with the Environment Agency in addressing the fly-tipping problem and prosecutions relating to fly-tipping activities are being considered.”
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