Actually I was not on the working party , though I endorse its conclusions.It's true that the depot has gone over budget, due in the main to a change in environmental regulations, as I understand it. In the event of a fire, if sprinklers go off, the LBH facility is unique (I am told) in Europe because it has systems in place to contain the contaminated water so that it can be treated and disposed of safely rather than letting it run off, contaminated, into the environment. Perhaps our Conservative colleagues would understand better had they bothered to attend the site visit which was organised for councillors back in September.Naturally, a new investment of this nature is intended to last for many years so it is misleading to quote it in comparison to an annual cost.Long term we have an excellent recycling facility of our own: we are likely to be able to defray cost by selling services to other waste collectors and we avoid paying out hefty profit margins to private sector operators.Nobody thought that such a change would be without challenges, but short term pain will lead to longer term gain for the council and residents.
Guy Lambert ● 2728d