Lobby On the Town Hall Steps

After the success of our protest on the Town Hall steps on the evening of the LBWF Cabinet Meeting two weeks ago, we will be meeting again on the Town Hall steps on Tuesday, the 14th of October, 6:30pm to lobby councillors attending the Full Council meeting.

We will be handing our statement to as many councillors as possible and alerting them to our disappointment that the Cabinet agreed to approve and adopt the revised draft of the North London Joint Waste Strategy (NLJWS) even though residents were not consulted during the course of the revision of the strategy, despite the fact that the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) had committed to consulting the public in the drafting of the North London Waste Plan (NLWP). It is now clear that the strategy is part and parcel of the plan.

There was a public consultation after the draft revised strategy was published, however this was poorly advertised (Barbara Herridge of the NLWA told RAP supporters at our recent meeting that there was a press release and two advertisements placed regarding this public consultation but couldn't confirm where they had been published) and it was documented in the report tabled at the Cabinet Meeting that the response to this consultation was poor. It is also of concern that recommendations (detailed in paragraph 5 and 6 of the NLWA’s report attached at Appendix A of agenda item 10) that had been made regarding revisions to the five proposed options for waste disposal went unheeded and as tabulated in Table 1: Features of the Five Scenarios Assessed by the SEA (the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the North London Joint Waste Strategy process), pg 16 of the pdf, pg 169 of the document, the five options remain almost entirely unchanged from the original strategy of 2004. It is evident that four of the five scenarios propose the building of a new Energy from Waste (EfW) plant. It is disappointing that the Cabinet nevertheless approved this strategy when it was already known that four of the six new waste processing sites, to process the waste of seven North London boroughs, proposed by the NLWA are either within Waltham Forest or immediately on the borough's borders. It is disappointing that the LBWF Council thereby seems to be supporting the NLWA's policy of Technology Neutral Procurement; the sites for waste processing will be purchased before it is decided (or declared) what technology will be implemented on each site.

It is disappointing that the LBWF Council appears to believe that the health of Waltham Forest residents does not need to be safeguarded. It is disappointing that the LBWF Council does not fully comprehend our community's profound hopes to see the Black Horse Lane area and Waltham Forest responsibly developed in ways that positively regenerate, encourage and enrich community, culture, environment, commerce, and employment.