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Kemptown MP highlights administration’s recycling failures

The Department for Communities and Local Government has responded to enquiries from Simon Kirby, the Conservative MP for Brighton and Kemptown, regarding Brighton and Hove City Council’s recycling rates, placing it among the bottom 25 councils in the country.

Simon Kirby MP for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven
Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven

IN a question to Kris Hopkins, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Mr Kirby enquired as to the rate attained by the City Council for the recycling of household waste and asked him to compare this to the rates of other local authorities.

In his response, the Local Government Minister explained that in 2013-14 Brighton and Hove City Council had a recycling rate of 26 per cent, among the lowest 25 in England.

The recycling rate is calculated as the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting, and Brighton and Hove’s rate is considerably lower than those of other coastal towns, with Bournemouth and Southend-on-Sea each recycling around half of their household waste.

Commenting on the revelations, Mr Kirby said: “These figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government show what many of my constituents have been telling me, that the City Council has been failing to drive forward its recycling agenda and that its refuse collection reforms often actively discourage recycling.

“I have been informed that the Council has been provided with additional financial support from the Government to help improve recycling rates, and I hope that by using this funding correctly, this rate will begin to increase.”


 

The Department for Communities and Local Government provided the following answer:

Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what comparative assessment he has made of the rate of recycling household waste by (a) Brighton and Hove City Council and (b) other local authorities; and if he will make a statement. (217790)

Tabled on: December 9, 2014

Answer:
Kris Hopkins:

Recycling statistics are collected by DEFRA. In 2013-14, Brighton and Hove Council had a recycling rate (percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting) of 26 per cent. This is amongst the lowest 25 councils in England.

To place this in context and to compare with similar coastal towns, I would note that Bournemouth Borough Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council are recycling roughly half their household waste and are providing a weekly collection of residual waste. This illustrates the scope for councils to have high recycling rates and still provide a weekly service for local taxpayers.

Brighton and Hove Council has received financial support from my Department to help increase recycling, so we will want to see progress in these rates being improved. If the Council has failed to do so, then the ruling administration on the Council should rightly be held to account.

The answer was submitted on February 23, 2015 at 16:59.

Council to debate future of Brighton Hippodrome

Brighton and Hove City Council will hold a debate about the future of the Brighton Hippodrome at a full council meeting on March 26.

Brighton Hippodrome

THE debate has been triggered by a petition signed by more than 4,288 people calling on the council to support the venue returning to live theatre. 1,250 signatures were needed to trigger the debate.

A planning application was granted on November 28 last year to Alaska Developments to turn the venue into an eight-screen cinema with restaurants and retail units to be run by Vue Entertainment.

However, those plans have been abandoned, with Vue Entertainment stepping down from the project. Campaigners are calling on Brighton and Hove City Council to use all its available powers and best endeavours and to support plans to restore the magnificent Grade II* listed theatre, designed by Frank Matcham, to a working theatre.

Planning permission having been granted, a new owner is in the process of taking over the site. Since Vue Entertainment, the company that was to have operated the cinema, is no longer involved, the only plan to save the magnificent venue, described by The Theatres Trust as the finest unused theatre in the country, is the one being developed by campaign group Our Brighton Hippodrome (OBH).

The council’s City Plan names the Brighton Hippodrome as one of the key venues in the city’s cultural infrastructure that should be protected and enhanced “for their existing use or potential for such use”.

It is long past the time when the City Council should have issued an urgent repairs notice to protect one of the most important buildings in the city from further deterioration.

Meanwhile, campaigners are calling on the council to give its full support to enable campaign group OBH to complete its plans for restoration of the Hippodrome for live performance and as a major community asset.

With the council’s backing, OBH will be better placed to raise the funding for restoration and will be in a stronger position to negotiate with the site’s new owner.

Campaigners say a restored Hippodrome would add considerably to the local economy, serving the residents of the city and the county while attracting valuable tourism income with shows that cannot currently be presented in Brighton and Hove.

A petition on campaigning website 38 Degrees in favour of theatre restoration has achieved over 11,500 signatures.

Campaigners are calling on the council to acknowledge the massive public support for revival of the iconic Hippodrome for live performance, which is the preference of most of the council’s own elected members.

For more information about the campaign, click here:

To donate to the campaign fighting fund, donate here:

To sign the petition, click here:

 

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