Up till now we haven’t written about what happened at the special District Council meeting on December 5th. This was a meeting to discuss new contracts for waste management, street cleansing and grounds maintenance.
Because it involved certain financial information it was held in ‘private and confidential’ and the minutes still aren’t on the council website.
We were encouraged not to write anything until the council had a press launch.
However quite a bit of news came out at a small sub-committee meeting and it’s now in the Echo:
At the moment, the council only recycles bottles, tins and paper, but plans to increase this to include plastics, cardboard, garden and kitchen waste from March.
We think this is very good news but have kept quiet about it till now. But if the Echo are allowed to write this , we think we are as well!
Does this mean that Temple Way, currently part of the 1% of Rochford District Council which does not have a recycling collection will now have one?
A year ago, the council stated that they could not collect recycling from Temple Way because the bends in the road were too tight for its vehicle to navigate. Seems somewhat strange that the waste collection vehicle and the garden waste recycling have never had a problem with this, and they appear to be larger in size than the vehicle used to collect recycled material
It is a bizarre situation . Let’s just say that we hope things will be done better in future….
Re: Garden Waste – will we be provided with free green bins, I think that you have to pay for these at the moment.
This is good news. Since the council started kerb-side collections the wife and I have been making the effort to also recycle plastic bottles and cardboard. Our wheely-bin is probably half as full as it used to be before we started recycling, but I now find my garage is packed with recycling bags until I can make a trip to the tip.
So, I look forward to kerb-side collections for these additional items, but hope we don’t get the ridiculous fines and fortnightly waste collections that you read about in the press.
This is indeed good news. And timely. Excellent to see that RDC is alert to the really important transition we all need to make in our lifestyles and consumption-patterns.
I look forward to reading the further details when they emerge…
Paul, you’ll have to wait a bit longer! The details aren’t emerging yet, these are the public minutes of the meeting that have just been released – and they don’t really say much. (An extra ‘exempt’ minute with the confidential details has been sent to councillors)
Members joined with the Leader of the Council in recognising the notable and extensive work undertaken by the Chairman of the Contracts Sub-Committee, Cllr M G B Starke. Cllr Starke’s contribution had been key to the development of contract proposals that would serve the community well in forthcoming years.
Reference was also made to the sterling work of other members of the Contracts Sub-Committee and to the contribution of officers. Cllr M G B Starke paid personal tribute to the contributions of fellow Sub-Committee members and valuable officer support.
It had also been good to have had an overview from the Chairman of the Council’s Review Committee, Cllr Mrs J R Lumley.
In presenting the recommendations, Cllr M G B Starke emphasised the need for step change in levels of recycling and how proposals accorded with the requirements of residents. Recent waste analysis activity had been instructive in terms of the possibilities for the recycling of various materials and for step change. Detail on the discussion and the Council’s final decisions on the award of contracts is set out in the exempt appendix to these minutes. The meeting closed at 8.34pm.
(An extra ‘exempt’ minute with the confidential details has been sent to councillors)
These are headed ” NOT FOR PUBLICATION by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.”
So it is against the Law for any Member or Employee of the Council to release this information.
I presume that the information will be released when those awarded contracts have been advised and negotiations concluded. There will then be a Press Release from the Council.
It was unfortunate that this was not considered more carefully at the Contracts sub committee where an Echo Reporter was present. Essentially the Echo Article is a leak. It starts hares running……………………………………………………………………………………………..
Regards
John
Help, I see that comments are moderated once again. What caused you to change your policy? Or does it just apply to me?
“Councillor John Mason Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.”
John, if you have had a previous comment approved, and you send in another comment with the same name and email address, your comment goes through automatically.
Trouble was John , you changed from calling yourself ‘John Mason’ and switched to “Councillor John Mason”! 🙂