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MP warns of 'long campaign' for Laybrook
HORSHAM MP Francis Maude this week warned residents to be prepared for a 'long campaign' in their fight against the threat of landfill in Thakeham.
His rally cry comes as the County Times launches its 'End this Landfill Lunacy' campaign and as the battle against the dump gathers momentum.
What do you think? Add your comments below. Tell us how the landfill site would affect you. Email us at ct.news@sussexnewspapers.co.uk. Send your letters to ct.letters@sussexnewspapers.co.uk.
Meetings across the district are taking place for the public to find out more about the plan to use part of Ibstock Bricks' site at Laybrook Brickworks Quarry, on the B2133 Billingshurst Road, as a landfill site.
On Wednesday the Conservative MP spoke to a packed crowd at Andrew Hall, Shipley, encouraging campaigners not to give up.
"Be prepared for a long campaign - play it long," he said. "There is a huge advantage to push it back. Delay is our friend in this.
"We always complain about bureaucratic delays but in this instance it is really good news."
At the meeting the applicant Cory Environmental, the UK's eighth largest waste management company, explained how the landfill site would work.
Mr Maude said residents with concerns should contact Cory Environmental with all their questions – although he warned they might not all get answers.
"Cory Environmental did not seem ready or very prepared to answer questions in the way local residents are entitled to expect," he said.
Mr Maude has spoken out against the idea of landfill, describing it as 'a bonkers way to carry on'.
He follows in the footsteps of MP Nick Herbert (Con, Arundel and South Downs) who this week stressed the need to end the landfilling of waste and called for new incentives to encourage households to go green.
Mr Herbert spoke on Monday at the launch of a new report on waste by the Policy Exchange think tank.
The shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs said the UK was lagging behind its EU partners when it comes to waste disposal, and criticised the current approach of just 'dumping it in holes in the ground and then forgetting about it'.
Mr Herbert warned: "This addiction to landfill has not only been immensely damaging for the environment; it has also meant that we have wasted valuable resources by burying them under a mountain of rotting rubbish.
"It is time for a new approach that incentivises the public to do the right thing, regards waste not as a problem but as a potential resource, and drives forward towards the goal of a zero waste society."
Thakeham Parish Council has announced this week it is holding a public meeting to discuss the landfill proposal on Thursday August 20 at 7.30pm in Thakeham Village Hall.
Shipley Parish Council has said it will hold another public meeting for concerned residents on Wednesday August 5 at 7.30p in Andrew Hall, Shipley.
Laybrook landfill:
Cory Environmental plans to dump 200,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste every year at the Thakeham site over a 21-year time span.
The site covers approximately 16.3 hectares.
The waste management company has said there will be 200 lorry movements a day – one every three minutes.
The public consultation closes on September 18.
Letters or emails should be sent to Planning Services at West Sussex County Council, The Grange, Tower Street, Chichester, PO19 1RH or planning.services@westsussex.gov.uk and copied to ct.letters@sussexnewspapers.co.uk for publication.
Anyone who wishes to join the campaign should email thakhamva@yahoo.co.uk
To find out more go to www.nolaybrooklandfill.co.uk
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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