LIB DEMS VOTE AGAINST TORY PLANS FOR MASSIVE

9.33.07am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 16th Jul 2008

Liberal Democrats at Essex County Council have voted against Tory plans to build large waste treatment plants in Essex. The vote was taken after a debate on waste at county hall on 15th July.

Commenting on the vote, Cllr Ian Gale, Liberal Democrats spokesman for waste and recycling said: "We have repeatedly raised our concerns over the Conservative's plans to deal with waste in the future. We oppose the massive waste treatment plants favoured by the Tories, as these plants need constant feeding and that is likely to discourage more recycling. We believe that the recycling targets set by the administration are too timid and this view is backed up by an independent Commission that looked at the Conservative's proposals.

"We also have concerns about the proposed finance arrangements of these plans. The plan is for PFI funding from central government and we have reservations about the success of this type of funding, especially as it will lock the council into inflexible 25-30 year contracts.

"We had no hesitation in voting against these proposals which we do not think serve the best interests of residents."