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Wiltshire Branch |
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What picture comes to mind when we think about these issues? Huge piles of gravel, deep pits and new lakes interspersed with diggers and dump trucks, as seen at the Cotswold Water Park? A scarred semi-industrial landscape with high earth banks, lagoons and more holes, full of lorries and heavy machinery, as seen at the Hills Lower Compton site near Calne? Or do we persuade ourselves that these are not issues with which, as individuals, we need be involved. But they are issues which affect us all in one way or another. The problem of how we dispose of waste in our throw-away, packaged-up society has to be faced at all levels every day. A lifestyle which only considers the now, not the before or after, has to change if the reputation of the UK as being the worst country in Europe for thoughtless, careless use, and disposal, of consumer goods is going to be changed. It will take time and involve understanding the process of how and why we create waste in the first place. The irresponsibility of the consumer society towards the environment is due to many reasons, the lack of understanding of cause and effect being one. Given the general acceptance of the predictions on the rate of climate change, the depletion of natural resources and the increasing pressures on open land in the countryside, the joint strategic authorities of Wiltshire and Swindon face the challenging task of persuading us all, private individuals and the relevant industries, to change our ways and prepare for a very different future. Minerals planning has been a case of calculating future need based on past need with an upward calculation to allow for all the future housebuilding programmes. The sharp sand and gravel which Wiltshire produces is much sought after in the construction industry, particularly the high quality soft sand from the Calne area. The increasing importance of building Eco-Homes, which use different construction techniques and materials, and the use of recycled aggregates from construction sites for roads and some blockwork, is starting to challenge and change these presumptions. In the past, and even now, the system has led to overprovision in the minerals landbanks and safeguarded too many sites. Hence the widespread areas of the Cotswold Water Park, with further excavation permitted for many years to come. The industry needs to move away from predictions based on formulae which no longer apply. Waste planning until relatively recently was confined to finding large enough holes in the ground, sited in areas where not too many people would complain, and filling them up with all the rubbish that was produced in the County. No longer. With potentially huge EU imposed financial penalties on local authorities who do not meet targets, the amount of waste going to the landfill must dramatically reduce, and eventually cease altogether. Councils, the waste industry, the supermarkets and the packagers, are all having to change their ways. Reduction, Recycling, Disposal are the mantras we hear and read. Disposal, either by the new technologies such as anaerobic digestion and gasification, or more sophisticated incinerators, comes at the end of the chain. The disposal of last resort being landfill. Recycling has been taken up (as any trip to a recycling centre will show) in a way which the authorities never imagined. The response by the public exceeds all their projections, and as a result the need to allocate more sites for landfill in the future should not be necessary. However, it appears, according to the statistic and projections calculated in County Hall, that we cannot give them up due to the thousands of new homes and households which Wiltshire will have to accommodate over the next 20 years. Many people question this approach and believe that the calculations on the need for so much future landfill is inflated and does not take into account the changes already taking place in the construction industry and the big retail chains. The bottom line for all of us is that we have to stop raiding our primary non-renewable resources, minerals, for our house and road building programmes, and we must learn to take ownership of every bit of waste we produce. This is the challenge for the future. For further information go to www.hills-group.co.uk or look on www.wiltshire.gov.uk under "minerals and waste planning" |
| CPRE, Wiltshire Branch,
Lansdowne House, Long Street, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 1NJ Tel: 01380 722157 | Fax: 0870 831 0066 | Email: wiltscpre@btconnect.com Web: www.cprewiltshire.org.uk National site: www.cpre.org.uk The Campaign to Protect Rural England exists to promote the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England by encouraging the sustainable use of land and other natural resources in town and country. CPRE is not responsible for the content, services or reliability of links to external websites. Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | All content © CPRE unless otherwise stated. Last update: 18 March 2008 |
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