The Overview and Scrutiny
Officer referred Members to recent press articles relating to the
remit of Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and
Scrutiny Committee.
The articles were:
- 16 ordered
to pay thousands for failing to remove waste – Almost
£15,000 worth of legal bills have been handed out in court to
people who failed to remove waste from their garden or yard.
– This also links to the fly-tipping report which will be
considered by the Committee on the 10 October 2018.
- Why the
plastic bag charge could rise to 10p and where the money goes
– At present the charge only applies to retailers with 250
employees or more. Money raised through the scheme does not go to
the Government but instead goes towards good causes chosen by
businesses themselves. The Government is expected to launch a
consultation which would see the cost double to 10p and would also
consider making all retailers and not just larger businesses pass
the existing charge on to customers.
- ‘Plastic Roads’ trialled in County Durham –
Motorists on the A689 near Sedgefield in County Durham are now
driving along a “plastic road”. Durham County Council
is the first local authority in the North East to try out the new
technology as part of the recently completed work to resurface a
section of the A689 with hot rolled asphalt. The scheme used 6.5
tonnes of plastic which was the equivalent of 60,000 shopping bags.
This process reduces the amount of new bitumen that is required and
reduces the carbon footprint. This links into an item on Highways
Maintenance that will come to a future special meeting of the
Committee.
- Durham and
Chester-le-Street among In Bloom trophy winners – The County
won a series of awards in Northumbria in Bloom, including best
overall entry and best small city for Durham and best large town
for Chester-le-Street.
Councillor Hicks sought
clarification on the life span of the ‘plastic road’.
The Chairman responded that as it was a trial there were no
statistics available, there were other authorities’ trialling
‘plastic roads’ but Durham County Council were the
first. Once the statistics were available a report would be brought
to a special meeting of the committee.
Resolved: That the presentation be
noted.