DOVE

Vote aims to bin 'a rubbish idea'

From the archive, first published Tuesday 30th May 2006.

Almost 40,000 lorries a year are expected to use the county's already congested roads to ship a mountain of waste to Sussex.

West Sussex County Council has revealed that a Government scheme to move five millions of tonnes of waste from the capital to Sussex over the next 20 years would bring an extra 20,000 lorries a year to West Sussex, while another 17,000 would trundle through East Sussex.

Henry Smith, leader of West Sussex County Council, said the heavy traffic would blight the area and have a drastic impact on already overstretched roads.

He is to call on colleagues in East Sussex to join his council in trying to block the proposal from the South-East England Regional Assembly (Seera), revealed by The Argus last week.

And he urged residents, particularly those living near areas that could be turned into landfill sites, to stand up and fight.

He said: "Seera is proposing that West Sussex take 2.6 million tonnes of London waste over the next two decades.

"We have passed a motion saying we don't accept that and we think it is a retrograde step.

"Waste should be dealt with as close to the source where it is produced as possible.

"They should be planning for the future rather than just sweeping into neighbouring counties.

"We are also concerned that the amount of waste will be equivalent to half as much as we deal with now."

Mr Smith said the council had worked out that moving that quantity of waste would require 40,000 vehicle movements a year in West Sussex, assuming that the rubbish would be carried in heavy goods vehicles with a capacity of ten cubic metres.

He said: "We are very concerned about the blight it will cause. There will be 20,000 vehicles of London waste coming in. Every vehicle that comes in will have to go out again on our already-stretched highways."

Mr Smith said the proposal could mean that some sites that have been earmarked for landfill could be turned into dumps right away.

"Anywhere that has a proposal for landfill could be under threat. What we have been able to do, dealing with our own waste, is rule out locations that have been identified because we don't need them.

"If people live near an earmarked waste site, the threat of having that opened is very real indeed. We are leaving no stone unturned to change this proposal. It is another rubbish idea from Seera."

The motion opposing Seera's plan was passed at a council meeting on Friday. Seera wants to allow London to transfer 1.25 million tonnes of rubbish a year to neighbouring counties over the next 20 years, with around a fifth going to Sussex.

East Sussex would get 2.2 million tonnes over the whole period and West Sussex about 2.8 million tonnes. No money would be paid to the councils for accepting the waste.

Comments on the proposal can be made to Seera until June 23, when it will be handed to independent inspectors. The address is South-East England Regional Assembly, Berkeley House, Cross Lanes, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 1UN. Telephone: 01483 555200.