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Question from: County Councillor Elwyn Vaughan Subject: Abermule recycling centre
Question:
In view of the fact that the Lib Dem candidate for the community committed and stated at the election - "I spoke to the Lib Dem local leadership to ascertain our position on the shed. We agreed if the Lib Dems form the new administration, we will not appeal the NRW decision but will go back to the start and review the whole process, including looking at alternative sites."
Please explain what has changed in a month?
Minutes: Response by the Portfolio Holder:
Thank you very much for your question I am pleased to respond to the query. Before agreeing to the continuance of this process and knowing how the local candidate had been addressing the issue on the doorstep I feel we honoured our promise to that community to review the process. The stance of the Liberal Democrats, as stated in Cllr Gibson-Watts’ press release in March, was that the application should not be appealed before the election to allow any new administration to review the approach that needed to be taken on this facility. My first action as portfolio holder was to discuss the issue with our officers knowing the frustration and concern in Abermule.
The application has been reviewed before sending, so our commitment to the community has been upheld. This has happened and unfortunately there is no viable alternative to proceeding on this site, considering the investment that has already been made and the lack of alternative options. All these issues have been shared and the process is transparent. There will never be an ideal site for a recycling facility as they will always be contentious with the local population.
There is a considerable history with this site, but my understanding is that due process was followed. After discussion I felt nothing would be gained by re-visiting this. However, I will now be overseeing the progress to ensure that I am happy with the approach we are taking. This has been shared with the elected member and I have committed to keeping in touch with him. This is the right thing to do regardless of party politics. It was not a Liberal Democrat who was elected, of course I am sad about that.
The new application has addressed all the issues that NRW raised throughout the first process and the further issues that were the basis for the rejection. It will now be up to them to further scrutinise the application once again and come to a decision.
Once again, thank you for your question and I hope this goes some way to addressing your concerns.
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