Mp's call for end to landfill

It has come at a time when a massive campaign is being mounted against an unwanted landfill site at Laybrook Brickworks in Goose Green Lane, between Thakeham and Ashington, where Corey Environmental has submitted a planning application.

Mr Herbert was speaking on Monday at the launch of a new report on waste by the Policy Exchange think tank.

The Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said that the UK is lagging behind its EU partners when it comes to waste disposal, and criticised the current approach of just 'dumping it in holes in the ground and then forgetting about it'.

Mr Herbert said the lack of progress had been particularly evident in London which is set to export nearly two million tonnes of waste to landfill sites in West Sussex over the next 15 years.

Whilst applauding the 'green' programme introduced by Mayor Boris Johnson since he took office last year, Mr Herbert described London's record on recycling over the past ten years as 'lacklustre'.

Mr Herbert warned: "This addiction to landfill has not only been immensely damaging for the environment; it has also meant that we have wasted valuable resources by burying them under a mountain of rotting rubbish."

Mr Herbert's comments coincide with the start of a public consultation on plans to dispose of 4.7m tonnes of rubbish in the proposed new landfill site at Laybrook Brickworks.

He has pledged to back the fight against the site, which comes on the heels of a three-year successful campaign by Washington Parish Council to prevent Rock Common being used as a landfill site.

Campaigners from Thakeham Village Action are urging local residents to make their views known to West Sussex County Council before the deadline in September.

Shipley Parish Council has called a meeting tonight (Wednesday) to discuss the Laybrook application, at 7.30pm in the Andrew Hall.

At a fundraising event at Knepp Castle in May, Mr Herbert pledged that he would continue to give his strong backing to villagers in Thakeham and Small Dole in their battle against landfill.

Thakeham Parish Council said on Monday that it would look at a way to help fund a traffic survey organised by Thakeham Village Action group regarding the effect the lorries would have on the village, but would have to look carefully at its tight budget since the survey is thought to cost 5,500.

Thakeham will hold a public meeting Thursday August 20 at 7.30pm in Thakeham Village Hall to discuss further ways of fighting the application, which would have a serious environmental impact on country roads and many villages around the proposed landfill site.