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The Bradworthy Wind Turbines
Councillor
Christie's Weblog
From your Torridge District Councillor Peter Christie
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21st January '07
Once again the question of the provision of black rubbish bags by Torridge District Council to its council tax payers has come up for discussion only this time it has been presented as a way of forcing people to reconsider just how much waste they produce – and to encourage recycling. Nothing wrong in that and indeed I would be the first to support such ideas. Councillors, however, reckoned the report on which the idea was based was ‘disappointing’ in that it failed to address what would happen to any non-recyclable material if the bags were discontinued. The discussion began with Ricky McCormack the TDC officer with the unenviable task of selling the idea to councillors saying that he thought ‘the issue was not as sensitive as people believed’ – which caused a flurry of head-shaking and denials from councillors. Cllr.Hugo Barton said he had been ‘inundated with calls – as was every other councillor’ the first time phasing out of the bags was suggested – a comment I can fully agree with. He went on to propose that Torridge continue issuing the bags ‘until a proper policy is worked out’. Cllr.Margaret Brown went further and suggested they could be paid for by ‘stopping the allowances to those councillors who do not come to meetings.’ I should point out that attendance and payment records are available on Torridge’s website if you want to see who this might affect. Cllr.Phil Collins went on to suggest that every household be limited to one bag per week – and the bags to be printed with the TDC logo to prevent people buying extra sacks and putting them out – though this idea didn’t get much support. When asked by Cllr.John Allen if TDC would collect rubbish in anything other than black bags Mr. McCormack admitted they would actually take up any bags or receptacles. After a large vote in favour of Cllr.Barton’s proposal we were told that the final decision would be taken at the Full Council meeting in February.
Planning in this country is governed by a series of Planning Policy Statements and Guidelines issued by the government and the recent publication of PPS3 on Housing has fascinating implications for Bideford and Torrington. Issued in response to the apparent massive shortage of new homes and the spiralling price of houses – the national average is now £222,859. Basically Torridge as the planning authority will need to plan sites for housing 15 years ahead, move towards zero carbon developments, improve the quality of design of new houses, beef up policy on affordable housing and focus on brownfield land and increasing the density of new developments to save Greenfield sites. These are all excellent ideas but will upset some people. Builders will query the cost implications of achieving zero carbon targets whilst architects will certainly question whether planners can decide what constitutes good design. Perhaps the most contentious issue, however, will be housing density. Already new developments in Bideford are being seen as overcrowded and there is a school of thought that we are creating problem areas of the future. Some new developments in the town although being of a high density have I feel turned out extremely well – Marlborough Court and Post Office Mews for example but achieving such good results across the area is going to take a real change – to peoples’ expectations, to developers’ aspirations and to the mindset of councillors. Without this change Bideford and Torrington could face a future of sprawling, unsustainable and poorly designed developments. Let’s hope that the new planning committee following the May 3rd elections takes these things on board and becomes very proactive in pushing them through.
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