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Sustainability should be at the heart of our agenda
• I WOULD like to praise two recent balanced articles in the New Journal.
First, Paul Keilthy’s full-page article on where our wastepaper and plastic goes – sadly to Asia (The dirty secret of where your recycling really goes, May 15).
Second, Richard Osley’s the previous week, for his report on how Camden could possibly be the very best local authority in the country – ever (Top marks all round for the Town Hall but is it simply the best? May 8)? It may seem odd for a councillor in the administration to praise criticism but I assure readers that some of us Liberal Democrat backbenchers, myself included, are far from complacent and applaud healthy questioning from the press in the absence of any credible political opposition from Labour, who are in such disarray.
The fact is that our administration inherited a multi-million pound long-term waste disposal contract and we have to find a way as soon as possible to convince Tory executive member Mike Greene to replace the current shameful co-mingling, especially when our residents are demonstrably so willing to participate constructively.
Also to get food waste, which represents 30 per cent of what we throw away, collected separately and recycled locally.
The cross-party Sustainability Task Force is pressing Cllr Greene hard for both of these initiatives and we’ve just completed our latest report into water and biodiversity. This task force is, in my opinion, quite the most exciting forum where councillors and concerned citizens are driving forward an ambitious new agenda.
So, how can Camden be top of the class? Does this actually say more about what other boroughs are like?
The Audit Commission’s criteria for corporate assessment are those invented by “Nu Labour” for assessing a bureaucracy. It’s what this government has excelled at – league tables and reward for tick-boxing. Over time, our Camden staff have become extremely good at passing such hurdles. This accolade is a measure of officers’ success.
However, there’s always room for improvements, but the tightening economy calls for greater resourcefulness and determination.
Housing is a great challenge, when the government stubbornly continues to punish Camden for daring to stand against its arms-length management organisation divestment programme.
The new Camden administration is being successful in containing costs and not before time.
Improvements are evident in disposition to our residents, in planning and enforcement and in improving our borough’s schools. But to my mind, the central issue where we need to concentrate in the remaining two years of our administration, is to make the Tories on the executive realise that we must put sustainability at the very heart of our agenda.
So I’d say to my colleague councillors, as my school reports used to say: “Should try harder.” And to Camden’s officers I say: “Well done!”
CLLR Paul Braithwaite
Lib Dem, Cantelowes ward
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