Meeting documents

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MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 24 September 2003, copies of which had been previously circulated, were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.  

MATTERS ARISING

Councillor Wilson bought it to the attention of the Committee that ACTVaR was actually known as the Thames Valley Waste Forum.

Alan Goodrum advised that he had a meeting with the Chief Executive of Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) to discuss the concerns raised by the Cabinet at AVDC. As a consequence amendments had been made to Article 11 of the Constitution. These were as follows: -

The Committee was requested to agree the proposed changes.

RESOLVED –

That the proposed changes to the Constitution of the Waste Committee for Buckinghamshire be approved.

BUDGET / WORK PROGRAMME

Richard Powell gave a brief outline of the proposed budgets and work programme. The Committee was requested to consider the budget for the next two years and to review the priorities and key areas of work for the Committee.

It was noted that it would be beneficial if the budget for the Committee could be produced earlier on in the year as many authorities had already agreed their budgets for 2004/05.  In future years the Committee would consider the budget in the autumn.

Whilst examining the work programme it was agreed that the Committee should also review the Buckinghamshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan. It was agreed that this should be reviewed at the next meeting of the Committee. Members agreed that they were willing to hold a special meeting in order to review the plan.

Richard Powell proceeded to ask the Committee to make suggestions for items to be included in the work programme. The following suggestions were made: -

Councillor Emmett advised that he was going to New South Wales in Australia in February 2004. It was noted that Australia was more advanced on the issue of dealing with waste. Councillor Emmett stated that he would be willing to visit a facility that the Committee thought would be worthwhile visiting whilst on his trip and would be prepared to report back on the visit to the March meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED –

2.    That the work programme to October 2004 be agreed with the inclusion of the following items:

UPDATE ON FLYTIPPING INITIATIVES

Martin Dickman gave a brief outline of the report, which highlighted the latest progress with initiatives to tackle the ongoing problem of flytipping across the County. The Committee was invited to endorse the current set of initiatives outlined in the report and to consider contributing £2000 towards the cost of advertising to enhance the existing communication campaign. Councillor Warder suggested that the £2000 come out of the £10,000 already assigned to the Committee.

The flytipping campaign, which was launched on 6 November 2003, had gone very well. Councillor Wilson was disappointed with the reaction of the press to the event.

Councillor Binns made a suggestion that the planning system be used to address the situation of flytipping with builders. It was noted that this was currently being looked into by DEFRA.

Councillor Wilson advised of an event he had attended on flytipping organised by the Environment Agency. The other authorities eligible to attend had been unable to attend the meeting however had requested copies of any relevant paperwork. A copy of the actions resulting from the session were circulated at the meeting.

Councillor Sir Beville Stanier reported that flytipping was a major issue on the border with Milton Keynes and would like to involve Milton Keynes Council in the flytipping campaign. The Committee agreed that this was a good idea. Martin Dickman advised that initial discussions had already taken place with Milton Keynes on the use of cameras.

RESOLVED –

WASTE AND EMISSIONS TRADING (WET) ACT

Martin Dickman briefed Members on the Waste and Emissions Trading (WET) Act and the main measure of the Act which was the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS).  It was noted that this had recently been given its final seal of approval by the Houses of Parliament. Due to the deferment of the implementation of the LATS until 2005, further discussion about the implication of the WET Act would be undertaken at a future meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED –

2.  That the implications of the WET Act be considered at a future special meeting of the Waste Committee.

LEGISLATION UPDATE

David Smedley had prepared a report, which provided information on new legislation relevant to the activities of the Waste Committee for Bucks. The three topics outlined were: -

RESOLVED –

That the report be noted.

WASTE DISPOSAL PROCUREMENT OPTIONS UPDATE

Martin Dickman advised that he would give an update at the next meeting.

FUNDING BIDS

Martin Dickman reported on the partnership bid that had been entered for the last round of the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund administered by DEFRA. It was envisaged that the results of the bid would be known by the following week.

One other bid was being prepared for WRAP however this was subject to short deadlines.

Richard Powell reported that Wycombe District Council was progressing with their collection of green waste. Information on this would be shared with the technical officers group however would not be able to be considered by the Waste Committee due to the tight timescale. The Committee agreed that information sharing was a worthwhile process.

BRANDING

Richard Powell showed the group 4 different designs for the Committee branding. The Committee agreed on the following wording for the branding and asked that a shorter version be considered for more formal use: -

“Rubbish...... It doesn’t have to go to waste”   Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire.

Some Members wished Buckinghamshire to be shortened to Bucks. A decision on the final design would be made by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Waste Committee.

RESOLVED –

That the decision on the final design for the branding for the Waste Committee be delegated to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Waste Committee.   

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Hazardous Waste

Councillor Wilson circulated a couple of articles on the topic of the shortage of methods of disposal for hazardous waste. It was noted that the Thames Valley Waste Forum would address this in the near future. Martin Dickman advised that the lack of sites in the South East was referred to in the Regional Waste Strategy. Councillor Emmett reported that the agricultural industry was being strongly consulted on this issue.

It was agreed that the Technical Officers Group would deal with the circulation of the Minutes of the Thames Valley Waste Forum.  

Information Sharing

Councillor Binns reported on South Bucks moving to a front door collection for waste. The authority had received a great deal of negative comments on this and a request was made as to how other authorities had dealt with similar situations.

It was noted that the public needed to be consulted on changes and once changes had been implemented then the authority needed to give a consistent answer on any queries that arose. Local authorities also needed to ensure that they had adequate resources in place.

DATE AND VENUE FOR NEXT MEETING

The next meeting would be held on :

It was noted that if an interim meeting was required to review the Bucks Minerals and Waste Local Plan it would be held at Wycombe District Council.