GET TO GRIPS WITH THE ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL OUR SAKES!Kent Labour is calling on Paul Carter (KCC’s Leader) to ‘Get to grips with Kent’s environmental challenges for the sake of all of Kent’s residents’. Despite the hard work of Kent’s Officers in the Environment Unit, KCC’s Tory Cabinet still fails to understand the challenges faced by Kent as highlighted in the recent CPA report.CPA inspectors suggested that KCC‘s performance is “Less Strong for example in recycling and volume of waste, and below – target air quality”. Ray Parker (Shadow Cabinet Member for the Environment) says: “Everyone understands that reducing the amount of waste we produce along with recycling more is the way forward. KCC’s Tory Cabinet must have its fingers in its ears, the inspectors are saying do more and the public are certainly saying the same, but Kent’s Tories are either unwilling or incapable of bringing forward innovative proposals to tackle waste reduction and increase recycling rates”.KCC’s Tories talk about ‘two tier working’ with Kent’s district and borough councils, better coordination of waste management would be a step in the right direction. At the moment each district seems to operate a different recycling programme where some are better than others. We have a situation whereby some district councils are forecasting increased recycling levels while others are suggesting that their levels will remain static or drop. Ray Parker went on to say: “Kent’s Tories should be asking themselves why different Kent district and borough councils have different success rates. They should then be encouraging their Tory friends at district and borough level to adopt the best model as a way forward. That way not only does Kent as a whole increase its recycling levels but the cost implications decrease as less waste is going to landfill, the less waste sent to landfill the less the cost to the Kent council tax payer”. If the recent KCC press release is anything to go by, then Kent’s Tories are still blindly ignoring real solutions.Ray Parker concluded: “If the best Kent’s Tories can come up with is an environmental quiz offering a ‘wind up radio’ as a prize then things are worse than I expected. This can only be a poorly crafted publicity wheeze; Kent’s residents are demanding action not competitions. It’s not just the radio that’s being wound up here; it’s all of us that live in Kent”.
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