MANAGING THE SOUTH EAST'S MOUNTAINS OF WASTE

IF THE SOUTH EAST DOESN'T CHANGE ITS WAYS, WE WILL BE BURIED UNDER A MOUNTAIN OF WASTE WITHIN THE DECADE. This is the key message of the South East England Regional Assembly's Waste Management Strategy which is being launched on 24 March in Oxford.

The Strategy - entitled 'No Time to Waste' - proposes a radical change in the way waste is managed in the South East. Currently, the South East is managing over 29 million tonnes of waste, of which around four million tonnes is being imported into region mainly from London. Even with effort to reduce the present rate of increase, it is estimated that this figure will grow by over 20% in the next 20 years so that by 2025 the region will be managing nearly 35 million tonnes of waste per year.

Details of the Strategy, which proposes a set of policies linked to tough waste minimisation, recycling, recovery and self-sufficiency targets, will be unveiled at a consultation launch at the Oxford Town Hall on 24 March. Speakers at the launch include Mike Gwilliam, the Assembly's Director of Planning and Transport, Craig Ibbetson, Chair of the South East Regional Technical Advisory Board for Waste (SERTAB) and Anna Watson, a campaigner for Friends of the Earth.

Cllr Keith Mitchell, Chairman of the Assembly's Regional Planning Committee said: "We need a rapid change in individual attitudes to waste and the way we manage it in the South East. We are running out of landfill sites, we are throwing away natural resources and are at risk of incurring high financial penalties from both the British Government and the European Union if we fail to meet their new waste targets.

" To help cope with our increasing waste problems we need to create a large number of new waste facilities. These will mostly need to be relatively small scale and built quickly. This new Strategy sets a regional planning framework for these new developments and advises that sites need to be built close to where people live, even if this sometimes means using green belt land."

Contact

Lesley van Dijk, PR Executive - 01483 555223

Alex Butlin, PR Executive - 01483 555221

Notes to editors:

1. The Regional Assembly is the “voluntary regional chamber” for the South East. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the South East region which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.
2. The Assembly is made up of 111 members including elected councillors nominated by the region’s local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations).
3. The Assembly has three areas of core business:
1. It is the representative voice of the South East, engaging and representing its member organisations and, through them, the wider public.
2. The Assembly has a specific role under the Regional Development Agencies' Act 1998 to ensure the accountability of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to the region.
3. The Assembly has been the Regional Planning Body for the South East since April 2001. It has responsibility for proposing strategic planning and transport policies to Government.

Last updated: 21 August 2007