Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Service Delivery (copy enclosed).

The Council considered the report of the Director of Service Delivery updating Members with the key results of the public consultation on the Essex Waste Strategy, carried out by Essex County Council (ECC) on behalf of all District, Borough and City Councils. The report clarified the amendments made following the consultation and seeking Members’ adoption of the Waste Strategy for Essex 2024 – 2054, attached as Appendix 1 to the report (the Strategy).

It was noted that ECC together with other Essex Councils had a legal duty to maintain a joint strategy for the management of waste. The Councils had worked together as the Essex Waste Partnership (EWP) to jointly develop a new Waste Strategy for Essex to comply with the legal duty. The report provided background information regarding the development of the Strategy, the consultation that had taken place along with the quantitative and qualitative findings and post consultation strategy amendments. A Strategic Environmental Assessment had been carried out and the Post Adoption Statement was attached at Appendix 2 to the report.

The Head of Environmental Health, Waste and Climate Action presented the report and provided the Committee with detailed information regarding the Strategy, the work undertaken by the EWP and the targets identified within the Strategy. It was noted that good response had been received to the ECC consultation on the Strategy and ECC and five other authorities had formally adopted it with another five (in addition to Maldon District Council) progressing the Strategy through their governance processes.

The Chairperson moved the recommendations as set out in the report and this was duly seconded.

In response to the following discussion and questions raised, the Head of Environmental Health, Waste and Climate Action provided Members with additional information, including:

·                Members were advised that the Strategy would not increase the budget implications. The majority of the services and the requirements of the new Strategy were already being delivered as part of the requirements placed on the Council by Central Government.

·                There was a conflict in respect of climate ambitions, the Strategy set a climate net zero date of 2050 to match that set by Essex County Council. The Council had a target of 2030 and whilst this did not directly impact the Council’s target it did need to consider how these different targets could be rationalised. This would be considered by the Officer and Member Net Zero Working Group.

·                The Strategy would not result in a reduction in standards and was to be adopted across the whole of Essex. It contained some ambitious targets, and the Council would be looking at how these could be delivered going forward.

·                Following adoption of the Strategy the Council would develop its own action plan to assess its priorities and challenges.

·                It was clarified that Appendix 2 to the report was a supporting document used to test the Strategy and Members were being asked to note this. Officers were not committing the Council to a mode of delivery for its waste strategies going forward.

·                In response to a question regarding ruling out any landfill by 2030, Officers highlighted a number of alternative methods of waste disposal which would shortly be operational. How the Council collected waste impacted on how ECC disposed of it and therefore the Council would be working with ECC to ensure the waste system operated efficiently.

The Chairperson then put the recommendation as set out in the report and this was agreed.

RESOLVED

(i)             That the Waste Strategy for Essex 2024-2054 (Appendix 1 to the report) be adopted;

(ii)            that the Post Adoption Statement on the Strategic Environmental Assessment (Appendix 2 to the report) be noted.