The many public squabbles in the local paper between the Tories and Liberal Democrats have frequently focussed on environmental initiatives in the Borough. The Liberal Democrats have always claimed credit for the many advances.

In reality, the real action came from Labour, which in the last Council held the balance of power, and made good use of it.

Labour Councillor, Keith Chesterton, was Guildford's Lead Member for the Environment for the last 2 years, and was responsible for almost ALL the environmental initiatives in this period.

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So what are these initiatives?

Projects on renewable energy and energy efficiency include:

• combined heat and power units, one for Spectrum and one for the Millmead council offices
  
  
• the installation of solar panels on a new housing development.

Both are Labour initiatives and are well on the way.

Projects on 'green' electricity and a demonstration eco-house:

• buying 'green' electricity for the council offices
  
  
• converting an old house to demonstrate how to achieve energy efficiency. (The house in St.Mary's passage, off Quarry Street, was open to the public until January 15th 2003, and then a family moved in).

Projects on waste include:

• the introduction of a charge to collect garden waste, to encourage home composting and avoid a huge cost to the council tax payer.
  Taking waste to a distant composting plant, with all the pollution that that entails, and then returning it for use on gardens from where it was collected is not a very sound piece on environmental economics.
  
  
• rejection of the 'zero waste' initiative.
  This is an impossible initiative when we are currently recycling less than 15% of our waste. It has been pushed by the Liberal Democrats to confuse the public into believing that they are doing something useful.
  Labour was supported by the Tory councillors on both these actions which were opposed by the Liberal Democrats.

As Councillor Keith Chesterton said to a GAIN meeting, Guildford should do everything it can to meet the 60% recycling target (including home composting) by 2010. Achieving that will take a lot of effort, but afterwards we can think of extending the target further.

Labour welcomes support from other parties and from enthusiasts outside the Council on environmental issues. They affect all of us and we need to work together to deal with them.

At least in Guildford, unlike many areas, we are debating and deciding matters that will affect not just us but our descendants.

After the Borough elections, future initiatives rest entirely with the Tories. We will be watching their actions closely and demanding that they keep up the good work started by Labour.

Reaching the 2010 target

The recent Government announcement that the Landfill Tax will be raised in stages, will ensure that recycling will increase as it becomes a more economic option.

The Strategy Unit report suggests a target of 50% of homes composting by 2006 and the introduction of a kerbside collection of organic waste - mainly kitchen waste.
We expect the new Tory-controlled council to meet these objectives.