Brentwood Council’s new Administration has been forced in to an embarrassing U-turn in order to avoid a “call in” of the decision taken to introduce domestic textile recycling.
At a recent Environment Panel meeting, Lib Dem and Brentwood First Councillors all voted to introduce the textile recycling service, before agreeing to consult with charity shops and affected parties.
Paul Faragher, Shadow Spokesman for the Environment said, “We raised concerns back in July of the impact the doorstep recycling scheme could have on local charity shops and we were ignored. I did some research over the summer and contacted the shops directly to gauge their views and there was much concern. Despite this, the Administration went ahead with their plans at the September meeting and are now only reconsidering and accepting the need to do things properly by consulting before making a decision, when threatened with a call in on the item.”
At the September meeting, the Administration not only approved the introduction of the scheme but also agreed to consult with the charity shops, in what can only be described as a farcical approach to decision making.
Paul added, “You cannot consult with any meaningful intention if you are doing so after the decision has been made. It is madness! I am pleased that following pressure brought to bear by Conservatives that they have relented and have agreed to suspend the decision and commit to carrying out a full consultation before bringing the matter back to committee for a decision to be made. It is just a shame that we have had to go through this process and they didn’t just do things properly in the first place.”
Over the coming weeks, charity shops and other stakeholders will be contacted for their views and a full report will come back to the Environment Panel for a decision to be made later in the year.
ENDS
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Contact:
Paul Faragher: 07918 777191