Meeting called to talk rubbish

A town hall forum jointly hosted by BALI - Bexhill Against Landfill and Incineration - and East Sussex County Council (ESCC) saw representatives of local groups, societies, amenities and businesses joined by councillors, officials and Bexhill MP Greg Barker.

Mr Barker’s observation that “nobody has got all the answers - we need to collaborate” set the tone of the meeting, which called to was chaired by Hamish Monro and featured presentations of the pros and cons involved.

BALI has campaigned for almost a decade against ESCC’s ear-marking of the Ashdown Brickworks in Turkey Road, Bexhill, as a possible landfill site for both county and Brighton and Hove refuse. There is already a similar site in use at nearby Pebsham.

The meeting was told by ESCC’s head of planning, Tony Cook, that no decision had yet been reached on Ashdown or any of five potential Low Weald land disposal sites.

The election of a new government in May this year meant the council’s “core strategy” would have to reflect any changes in waste policy that the coalition introduced, and so revised plans are not expected before next summer.

But Mr Cook said: “Even after you have recycled or recovered as much as you can, you will still have some waste left over needing a hole in the ground.”

With a landfill site at Beddingham, near Lewes, now closed and Pebsham due to follow within four years, ESCC still faces the problem of what to do with this residue. Mr Cook said that by 2026 the cumulative total was likely to be some 3.9 million tonnes.

While recognising these difficulties, BALI remains opposed to any use of Ashdown - not least because the site fails to meet the council’s own criteria - and its case was put to the meeting by Geoff Smith, director of planning at DMH Stallard.

He outlined 10 objections that, criteria-wise, should automatically rule it out, including its proximity to the Highwoods ancient woodland, lack of suitable road access, archaeological finds and harm to local amenities such as the expanding cemetery and the new High School.

Alan Malpass, president of the Highwoods Preservation Society, said: “You either have criteria or you don’t. The Ashdown Brickworks plan drives a coach-and-horses through them.”

Greg Barker MP, who is also Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, reiterated his support for BALI’s efforts before giving an overview of the coalition’s “zero waste” policy and its aim to become “the greenest government ever”.

He said: “The standard rate of landfill tax will increase by eight pounds per tonne annually from next April until at least 2014, and it is highly conceivable it will rise again after that. The overall rate will not fall below £80 per tonne from April 2014 until 2020.”

Mr Barker said that this was “a huge liability” for council tax payers and should encourage exploration of other forms of waste disposal and the harnessing of waste as a resource, such as producing power through anaerobic digestion.

Following these presentations, delegates divided into working groups to discuss the issues involved and to record key points for ESCC to include in its preparation of a Waste and Minerals Core Strategy.

Cllr Matthew Lock, ESCC lead cabinet member for transport and the environment, said: “No final decisions have been made and we’re considering all options for management of the county’s waste. This meeting will help us greatly in the development of our thinking.”