Less than one per cent of the household waste collected in Wealden ended up in landfill between April – December 2014.
Wealden’s waste which previously went into landfill sites is now going to the incinerator at Newhaven. The Energy Recovery Facility can process 210,000 tonnes of waste each year from East Sussex’s local authorities, producing enough energy to power 25,000 homes with electricity.
Wealden District Council Leader Bob Standley described the increased use of the Energy Recovery Facility as “a major achievement”:
Many people are still unaware that as well the waste that gets recycled from their kerbside collections and from the household waste recycling sites, nearly all of the rubbish we collect every other week is used to create energy.
By the third quarter of the current council year, we recorded that over 48% of household waste was reused, recycled or composted. In the course of the current year it will be nearer to 96-97% when you consider the vast amount of rubbish we now recycle as electricity.
In reviewing what he described as an impressive set of performance statistics at the March Cabinet meeting, Councillor Standley said the Council had performed well, not just over the last quarter, but over the previous four years. Measures taken through its Transformation Programme had placed it in a financially sound position and had made it better able to withstand the challenge of reduced central government grants than many other councils.
Flytipping and Missed Bin Collections
Two areas where perforance was significantly below target was in relation to fly-tipping and the number of missed bin collections.
The percentage of fly tips removed within two days of being reported continues to be below the target of 90%. Last year 52% were removed within the target time, for the first nine months of 2014/15, the performance was up to 77%. The increase in fly-tipping in the north of the District continue to be a problem. However, the Council is pursuing legal action in one case and another is under investigation.
Work continues with Kier to reduce the number of missed refuse and recycling collections. The performance target for April to December 2014 was 246 missed collections per 100,000. Kier had missed 586 collections per 100,000. The report to Wealden District Council’s Cabinet said problems experienced around the August bank holiday have skewed the figures significantly.
Councillor Standley made special mention of the improvements in planning performance during the last quarter, with target times for the processing of all categories of planning application being exceeded.
Rent paid on time
Councillor Graham Wells, Cabinet member for Housing, thanked the Council’s tenants for paying their rents on time. Performance statistics for the third quarter showed that 98.7% of housing rents had been received for the financial year so far, exceeding the target.
People claiming Job Seekers Allowance
Councillor Roy Galley, Cabinet member for Economic Development and Regeneration, highlighted the recent extension of the Job Centre Plus outreach scheme, which began at the District Council’s Hailsham offices but is now including drop-in sessions at Crowborough, Heathfield and Uckfield. The surgery for careers and benefits information is held on the last Friday of the month at Crowborough Library. The proportion of the working population in Wealden claiming Jobseekers Allowance continues to decline in line with regional and national trends and is now less than 1%. The Council estimates that planning approvals in the current council year have created 190 new jobs.
Cabinet also welcomed a report by the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee calling for an improved dialogue with NHS England to ensure that the future health provision for the District could be properly catered for through the planning process which would enable the necessary financial contributions from developers to be identified.
I don’t understand how these figures are being achieved as we watch the dustman tip our carefully separated bottles into the back of the vehicle with all the other material