Tuesday 31st October if you want to turn up - in the Council Chamber, 1st Floor at City Hall.
Agenda
1. Lord Mayor's Announcements
2. Long Service Awards
3. Declarations of Interest
4. Public Questions (that's your bit!)
5. Petitions
6. Minutes of the Last Meeting
7. Questions to the Executive - I will be asking about parking on Bishey Barnabee Way in Three Score and Eve is putting one down about how fast the council can obtain short stay parking bays outside of shops.
8. Council response to the Government White paper
9. Approval of the Tree Strategy
10. Motion on Waste (Proposed by Cllr Stephenson) - see below
11. Motion on Educational Attainment (a joint one by Cllrs Morphew and Cooke)
It is worth pointing out what the Greens want to achieve under point 10 motion:
- Reward scheme for businesses to reduce packagaing on their products
- Get the council to encourage people to complain about excessive packaging
- Write to retailers asking them to introduce carrier bag tax
- To write to the government to offer Norwich as a pilot area for a national plastic bag tax.
Your thoughts on this would be appreciated as I am certainly in two minds on this.
And one last point, about the tree strategy - why couldn't this be produced as an online PDF only as thus save a few dozen trees in the process? I've now had three copies of this document...
Hope to see you there
6 comments:
Antony, Personally I would back this.
I cannot see a particular downside for the council as:
1) It sends the right message on plastic packaging/bags, to retailers abd consumers alike. Norwich needs to get tough on plastics. This is the most important point.
2)Nothing is being done at the moment, action is better than inaction, even if untested.
3) It does not impose a bag tax, but encourages. If it works it works, good, if not no damage. Its worth taking a lead and trying. Retailers should be encouraged to supply sustainable reuse alternatives. Possibly their needs to be an emphasis on partnership rather than dictac.
4)A reward Scheme is good and will indicate to shoppers "who are the greenest" retailers with regards to packaging, and inject healthy local competition between retailers and their public consumers/green image.
5)If government backs a plastic scheme via WRAP, there might be some government cash to cover it. Norwich needs extra cash.
6)It might raise Norwich's recycling reputation, it can't get lower.
7)It might reduce volume/tonnage to landfill, and save the Council/Tax payerb money.
8)Rejecting the motion sends a poor message to the public about the councils committment to recycling/waste.
9)It empowers the public/consumers and gets them involved and pressures retailers to act.
10)I helps retailers to become more efficient as businesses, which must be good for their costs in packaging. It makes business sense.
Possibly to add, Major Retailers should be encouraged to provide onsite "packaging refuse" boxes/facilities where customers are able to place excess packaging after purchase prior to leaving a store, chargeable as trade waste.
The tree officer has cause to argue as he has saved and planted so many trees, he is probably paper neutral with this reports, or has a few years credits
I think on balance a motion on packaging ans shopping bags is a good idea.
Watching the Wright Stuff show this morning I was amazed that the UK consumes 8 billion plastic bags every year, or 133 bags per person per year, of which 95% go to landfill and take 200 years to break down. Wright pointed out that Ireland introduced a 9p bag tax a couple of years ago which resulted in a 93% reduction choice to use non reuse/recycleable plastic bags. I guess it works in practice if friendly alternatives are available.
Irish Success Story BBC news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2205419.stm
The concept is good but it has to be workable for it to have credability.
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