Rubbish! – It’s not

Everything we put in our green recycling bins gets sent to the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) at Alton.  I was lucky enough to be part of a small group of borough councillors who had a guided visit of the MRF on Thursday.  The Alton MRF handles an average of 300 tonnes of material a day, Monday to Friday.  Another MRF at Portsmouth takes 200 tonnes a day.  Between them they process all the household recyclables from Hampshire.

Even at 80,000 tonnes a year, the Alton MRF is running at two thirds its potential capacity, so it could easily handle more if Eastleigh (and other councils) could collect it.  Unfortunately although it is adjacent to a railway line, all those 80,000 tonnes arrive and leave by road.

The main job there is to separate the material into recyclable categories – newspaper and pamphlets, two grades of mixed paper / cardboard, plastics, ferrous cans and non-ferrous (aluminium) cans.  This is done by a variety of processes.   Some is simply sorted by size; jets of air blow plastic bottles one way while heavier items continue on the conveyor belts; magnets extract the ferrous cans, while a different process extracts the aluminium; computers and optical scanners identify some categories; and at the beginning and end of the process there are human beings providing quality control.  At the end of the process the materials are loaded onto lorries for transportation to specialist recycling facilities.

Up to 15% of the incoming material cannot be sorted and ends up being converted to electricity at one of the county’s incinerators or ERFs (energy recovery facilities).  Some of this is stuff that should not have been in the green bins in the first place (plastics other then plastic bottles, for instance), but some is recyclable material that is sorted out at an early stage because of its size – small pieces of paper and cardboard, shredded paper, can lids, and even some crushed aluminium cans.

The operators are planning to put in new machinery to try and trap more of these small items, but in the meantime there are some things we can all do to ensure that more of our material is recycled and not incinerated.   If you have shredded paper, or small pieces of paper and cardboard, stuff it into something like a cereal carton.  The carton will carry it through the entire process.   Put tin lids back into the tin and squeeze the tin to hold the lid inside.  And don’t forget that aerosols can now go into the green bin.

I can now picture what 100 tonnes of newspaper and magazines look like, and the most striking impression was just the scale of the operation.   If somebody tries to tell me that the black and green bins all end up at the same place, I have seen with my own eyes that that is untrue!

Annual Parish Assembly - It only happens once a year

This evening was Hedge End's Annual Parish Assembly.  In recent years this has been the occasion for the Town Council to announce the winner of its Serving the Community Award.  The nominees were invited along with friends and families, which tended to inflate the public participation.  This year there was no award, and turn-out was - how should I put this - a bit sparse.  Seven town councillors, one borough/ county councillor, the Town Clerk, caretaker, two police representatives, and three members of the public.

It's a shame more people didn't come.  It's a chance to hear what the Town Council has been up to in the past year, to put questions to councillors and for other local organisations to publicise their own achievements.  It should be the focus for what the Prime Minister insists on calling "The Big Society" in Hedge End.  A big hand goes to the Police and Carnival Committee, but apart from their reports it was a bit like a group of councillors telling each other what they had done in the last year.

I'm sure it's not lack of interest.  Perhaps it needs to be publicised better.  Perhaps we should change the name to something more interesting or at least descriptive.  Perhaps it's a bad time of year.  Perhaps people are just too busy, or too content, to turn out on a Tuesday evening once a year.  Perhaps the agenda just looks too boring.  Perhaps in an era of online social networking, blogs and twitter the concept of an annual parish assembly is an anachronism.

Let me know what you think and I will pass your input on to the Town Council.  Either comment here or email me at hedgeendblogger@gmail.com

In the meantime, here is the report I gave as outgoing chair of Finance and Administration:

"Firstly although it was never really in doubt, I am pleased to be able to confirm that the council’s accounts for the year ending 31^st March 2010 were signed off by the audit commission in August last year, and the return is available for all to see on the council’s recently rebuilt web site or by calling into the office.

My predecessor as chair of Finance and Administration announced at this meeting last year that the council would be making a significant contribution to the Berry Theatre of £300,000 from reserves that had been built up over the years.  Our reserves had frankly got too large and it is better that that money is spent for the benefit of Hedge End now and not kept indefinitely in the bank (especially with low interest rates making income from bank deposits negligible). The Berry is a fine investment and asset to the community and  I would urge as many people as possible to go along to the free open weekend on  9^th and 10^th April to see for yourselves the very high standard to which it has been built and kitted out.

A consequence of this contribution was that our budgeted expenditure for the financial year 2010/2011 was over £1 million for the first time.   Hedge End Town Council is now a very significant provider of services and facilities for local people.

The current financial year does not end until Thursday but indications are that our expenditure has been controlled and we will come in within budget.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Clerk and my colleagues on the Finance and Administration Committee for the professional way in which these large amounts of public money are administered and monitored.

Looking to the future, we are budgeting for £895,000 of expenditure in 2011/2012.  This includes provision for the upkeep and maintenance of the new Dowd’s Farm Park which has been transferred to the Town Council from Bovis Homes, and of a number of established green spaces which have been transferred to us from Eastleigh Borough Council.  We have also budgeted for capital investments to improve various facilities in the village centre and at the Woodhouse Lane, Greta Park, Turnpike Way and Nelsons Gardens recreation grounds.

A new storage building is proposed for our grounds staff off Pavilion Road.  We intend to apply for a loan from the Public Works Loan Board in order to finance this project.  Once the new building is complete we will be able to give up the storage units that are currently rented and use that money to service the loan.  This makes sense as an invest to save project, and is necessary as the rented facilities are no longer fit for purpose.

In terms of income, just over £200,000 will be generated from charges for the use of our community halls and outdoor sports facilities, leaving the rest to come from our council tax precept.

It is worth pointing out at this stage that both Hampshire County Council and Eastleigh Borough Council are receiving grants from central government to enable them to freeze council tax for the next financial year.  Unfortunately the government’s generosity did not extend to parish and town councils.  As a result Hedge End has had to increase its precept to account for inflation and our increased responsibilities.  However for a band D council tax payer, the increase from last year is just  £1.86, or less than 19p per month.

I hope you will look at the services provided by your town council:  Community Halls here at the 2000 Centre, at the Drummond Centre and Norman Rodaway and Turnpike Way pavilions; the Albert Road cemetery, allotments, football and  cricket pitches, bowls, tennis, skateboarding, children’s play areas, paddling pool, formal and informal public open spaces, and agree that we give good value for money.

In closing I am pleased to be able to announce that in future you will be able to take a closer look at our finances and help us ensure that your money is well spent.  Earlier this year the government required primary authorities to publish online details of all expenditure over £500.   This did not apply to parish and town councils.  But, in the interest of open government Hedge End will in future publish its annual budget and all monthly expenditure details on our web site.  So you will have the chance to review all our outgoings down to the smallest item.  

Thank you for your attention this evening.  Are there any questions?"

Farewell to Environment Scrutiny

Thursday saw the last meeting of Eastleigh’s environment scrutiny panel.  As part of the Borough’s plan to reduce costs while maintaining front line services, four scrutiny panels are being merged into two, and  environment and transport scrutiny will in future be the responsibility of the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Panel.

We reviewed the activities and progress of the Environmental Health service, endorsed  the action plan for recycling in Hampshire, and approved a technical and legally required document outlining how future development plan documents will be assessed for sustainability and environmental impact.

Eastleigh has an impressive record on recycling:  the only council in Hampshire to collect food waste and one of only four with a kerbside collection for glass, we currently recycle just under 45% of our collected waste.  And that is down to the willingness of all our residents to sort and clean recyclables and avoid contamination in the green bins.

There is a desire in the community to recycle more:  at the moment a lot of plastics and tetrapaks are not collected.   The reason for this is that historically these categories either cost too much to recycle or the transport and energy impact of recycling them makes the process not sustainable.  

Project Integra (a partnership of all the councils in Hampshire) needs to look at increasing the range of recyclables that are collected as well as helping people to reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste that enters the system.  And that means using its influence to lobby the supermarkets and other businesses to cut out unnecessary packaging.

The Co-op stopped shrink-wrapping its cucumbers in response to its customers, and communities have reduced or eliminated plastic carrier bags, so it can be done if people-power is harnessed and co-ordinated.

The problem with UKIP

Encouraged by their second place ahead of both Conservatives and Lib Dems in the recent Barnsley South parliamentary by-election,  UKIP will probably field candidates in the May 5th local elections.  The problem with UKIP in local elections is that there is no way Hedge End – or even Eastleigh – is going to withdraw from the EU on its own, so I don’t see the point in voting UKIP at local elections, even for those who want the UK out of Europe.

Unfortunately local elections these days are used by the parties as an expensive opinion poll on national issues, and that is a distortion of the democratic process.   Local elections should be used to elect the best candidate on local grounds, not to help the parties register support for their national policies.

These are the first annual elections since the formation of the coalition, and both parties will claim every council seat won as a vindication of their position and the opposition will count every seat the coalition loses as a vote against it.  Let's hope some decent, hard working, competent councillors get elected as a by-product!

Only one month to go

We could all do with a bit more laughter in our lives.  The Hedge End StGeorgeFest committee is doing its bit and will be marking St George's Day 2011 in Hedge End with a performance which promises to combine superb musicianship with side-splitting genius.

First, check out the performers.  The New Rope String Band

Then check out the venue: Hedge End's brand new Berry Theatre

While you're there book your tickets (the event is in the "Community Performances" category).

Not only will you be joining in the St George's Day celebrations, you will get a great evening's entertainment and get to see one of the first events at The Berry.

That Hedge End is getting a state of the art professional theatre has got to be the most exciting thing that has happened here for many years, and credit should go to the three councils and Wildern School who have worked together to realise the project.

The problem with Labour

I suppose it was predictable, but since leaving the Lib Dems, I have received various contacts from other parties suggesting I might like to join them.  I won't be joining Labour any time soon because:

I'd be happy to be proved wrong, but the party seems to be extinct in Hedge End.  In the 2010 council elections they couldn't even find a single candidate who lives here.

Eastleigh Labour Party (well, their one remaining borough councillor, any way) spends an inordinate amount of time attacking the Borough leadership for its opposition to the proposed flats at Wildern Mill.  Not a good way to win friends in Hedge End.

Labour did some good, progressive things while in power.  I think of the Good Friday agreement, the national minimum wage, writing off the poorest countries' debts, Sure Start Centres, free entry to national museums, civil partnerships, scrapping section 28, increased funding for education, devolved power to national assemblies.  How did they come to allow themselves to be remembered primarily for financial incompetence and attacks on civil liberties? 

Lobbying by Developers

Perhaps I am unduly suspicious, but professional lobbyists bring out the cynic in me.  So I was interested to learn that Hedge End Town Council has been approached by a lobbying consultant working for a consortium of landowners with interests in the area of the old Strategic Development Area N/NE of Hedge End which was to be the site of 6000 houses.  The SDA was partly in Eastleigh and partly in Winchester.

I looked up the consultant on his company's website and discovered that until recently he worked for Eastleigh and Winchester Lib Dem MPs Chris Huhne and Mark Oaten, and the unsuccessful Lib Dem candidate for Winchester Martin Tod.  He also claims that "He remains an active voice within the Liberal Democrats and has a considerable network of parliamentary and local party links to call upon."