West Sussex call for London to deal with own waste

The public consultation for the South East Plan came to a close on Friday (June 23). Developed by the South East England Regional Assembly and expected to be finalised early in 2008, the plan lays out development activities expected in the region over the next 20 years.

” The proposal could increase by almost half as much again the amount of waste the county council will have to find sites for “
– Cllr George Blampied, West Sussex CC
However, councillors in West Sussex have condemned the plan because of the 2.6 million tonnes of waste it suggests will be sent to county landfills from households in Greater Landfill up to 2025.

George Blampied, chairman of the Western Arun county local committee at West Sussex county council, said: “The county council already arranges for the disposal of 460,000 tonnes of waste annually.

“The proposal could increase by almost half as much again the amount of waste the county council will have to find sites for in West Sussex. It will mean 140,000 tonnes of London waste a year being dumped in our county,” Cllr Blampied said.

Viridor
The outcry from West Sussex came as the county announced reaching a 31% recycling rate for waste generated by local residents, working under a 25-year contract with Viridor Waste Management.

Christina Freeman, chairman of West Sussex county council's Joint Downland county local committee, said of the South East Plan: “The proposal will undermine the council's efforts to deal with the county's own mountain, because we simply do not have the capacity for this extra tonnage of waste.”

Plan
The South East England Regional Assembly is a “voluntary” regional body representing Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.

Its proposed plan targets a recycling rate of 65% for the region's waste by 2025 as well as a reduction in the growth of waste production to 1% per annum.

The plan calls for the development of local markets for recyclable waste and a promotion of new waste treatment technologies including anaerobic digestion and advanced recovery.

The Assembly submitted its draft plan to the government in March, and intends to have it completed and published by the end of February 2008 after a second consultation to take place next year.