Local residents from a village in North Derbyshire have been angered by Environment Secretary of State Margaret Beckett's decision to intervene in a legal challenge that could lead to waste from her constituents being dumped on their community. The Environment Secretary has intervened in a Court of Appeal hearing tomorrow (Wednesday 9 June) in favour of a waste operator who wants to landfill waste from South Derbyshire at a site near the North Derbyshire village of Doe Lea. Ms Beckett is MP for Derby South, where some of the waste will come from.

Friends of the Earth has sought and obtained permission from the Court of Appeal to file evidence in this case because of its importance in the future of waste policy.

The village of Doe Lea - an ex-mining community between Chesterfield and Mansfield - has been surrounded by landfill sites for over 30 years. In 2002 a proposal for a new landfill by Derbyshire Waste Services was vigorously opposed by the community, who won a judicial review against the local authority in November 2003. In his ruling the judge said that as the landfill site would primarily take waste from South Derbyshire, this ran against Government policy which states that waste should be disposed of as close as possible to where it has been produced [1]. The company has appealed against the decision. The Secretary of State has intervened in the case to explain to the court the Government's understanding of, and weight to be attributed to, its waste policy.

According to the latest figures, councils in South Derbyshire only recycle between 9 - 13 per cent of their household waste [2], well below Government targets for the councils to recycle between 18 and 33 per cent of waste by 2005/06.

Friends of the Earth's Planning Campaigner Hugh Ellis said:

"Margaret Beckett should be putting pressure on local authorities to improve their recycling records rather than supporting plans to have her constituents waste dumped on other communities. We hope that the Court of Appeal upholds the High Court ruling preventing this environmentally damaging proposal from going ahead. "

Tony Trafford from the local "Stop Tipping Campaign" said:

"It's a sad day when a minister personally intervenes on the side of big business to try and defeat a deprived local community, especially one that has fought a landmark case that will benefit ordinary people everywhere."

Notes

[1] Waste Strategy 2000, part 2 page 28 - The Government's strategy for waste.

[2] Recycling and Composting rates for councils in South Derbyshire area :

Amber Valley Borough Council - 8.7%

Derby City Council - 12.95%

Erewash Borough Council - 12.59 %

South Derbyshire District Council - 12.3 %

(Source: Best Value Performance Indicator Data 2002/2003

www.bvpi.gov.uk/pages/Index.asp)