I DON'T want to belittle Jon Barry's contribution to the cause of recycling. No one can doubt his personal commitment and hard work on it since he was first elected.
But in seeking to claim all the credit for the Green Party for what has been done he goes too far. Let's recall a little history.
The recycling 'bring' sites were established by a Labour run council before any Green councillor was elected. Labour also started the kerbside col-lection of recyclables.
Then came 1999, the election of the first Greens and an MBI-led council. What happened to recycling? For three and a half years absolutely nothing. There was a lot of talk, but recycling rates fell and no new kerbside collections were introduced.
Then, using grants from the Government, a pilot three-stream waste and recyclables collection scheme was started in Silverdale. However, as we discovered when the coalition cabinet took over in 2003, the on-going costs of this had been underestimated and no financial provision made for expanding the scheme.
Expansion of recycling has now been built into the council's financial strategy. A third phase will be introduced this year and cabinet is to discuss the fourth phase during the summer.
Working together, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens have expanded recycling. Without finance from the Government and a commitment to put in the necessary revenue support, recycling would be remain an aspiration.
Things are happening now, but it's a Coalition achievement, not a Green one.
Cllr Ian Barker, leader, Lancaster City Council.
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