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02/04/04 - Cumbria people help tackle waste problem

Cumbrian people are being asked for their help as councillors prepare to seek new ways of tackling one of the most pressing problems facing the county -- how to deal with the growing mountains of household waste produced each year.   

A questionnaire is going out from Cumbria County Council to the 2,700 members of Community Voice, the council’s citizens’ panel. The panel’s members are a representative cross-section of the Cumbrian public.   It will also be available for any resident to fill in on-line at the county council website and also on the Community Voice website.

The questionnaire will ask about people's actions and attitudes on waste recycling. Their replies will help the county council, with the six district authorities in the county, to develop a co-ordinated approach towards recycling and minimising waste. 

The questionnaire will drop through the letterboxes of Community Voice households in the week beginning April 12. They are asked to reply, using a prepaid envelope provided, before May 3.   

Councillor Colin Nineham is chair of Cumbria County Council's environmental quality and safety scrutiny panel, which has asked for the survey. He says:   

"The problems of waste disposal and recycling become more acute every year. The amount of waste continues to grow and we are facing even stricter regulations soon from the European Union over how we deal with it.   

"This survey will map what is actually happening and what people think should happen in the future about recycling. 

"It will also help inform and influence the development of a municipal waste recycling strategy for Cumbria, co-ordinated between the county council, which disposes of waste, and the six district councils, who collect it and run recycling schemes.   

"The strategy should have a number of benefits for the county, both environmental and economic. They include raising public awareness of recycling in Cumbria, reducing pressures on landfill sites, shaping a greener environment for future generations and creating extra jobs for local people in recycling work and businesses.   

"Waste recycling is of vital importance to Cumbria, so we ask people to take a few minutes to think about it and fill in the questionnaire."   

Data gathered from the survey and from other sources will be used to produce an evidence-based report from the scrutiny panel to the county council's Cabinet to help the executive members form an effective and co-ordinated approach to recycling in Cumbria. 

Community Voice website