On 26th November 2008 we held our second meeting with Ibstock. At our first meeting on 23rd May 2008, we agreed to meet on a six-monthly basis. At this latest meeting, Stephen Hardy, Ibstock Company Secretary was accompanied by Steve Chapman, Ashdown Site Manager. Representing BALI were Nick Hollington, Mike Rosner and Judy Murray.
While the detailed minutes of these meetings are kept confidential to BALI members, some of the main threads of this second meeting were as follows:
- Ibstock has had no new approaches re: a landfill at Ashdown. (It is understood that Ibstock would not themselves operate a landfill, but make a commercial arrangement with a waste contractor such as Veolia, Cory, Viridor etc.)
- There has been no charge of policy since our previous meeting when Ibstock promised full consultation with BALI and the local community before making any planning application for a landfill.
- Ibstock summarised how it was coping with the recession in the brick making industry. The worry expressed by BALI was that the decline in demand for bricks might force an earlier consideration of the Ashdown site for landfill
- Ibstock repeated their belief that London waste would not come to this area (proposed under the South East Plan) and that, if it did, they would only accept it if requested by the East Sussex County Council
- Other Ibstock sites are being more actively considered for landfill e.g. Laybrook in West Sussex, where they are already consulting with the residents and a local action group
- Ibstock have made a submission to the ESCC WMDF (as BALI has). We asked if BALI might see it.
- The Rother District Local Development Framework document (Consultation on Strategic Directions) was discussed, which outlines a proposal for a country avenue in North Bexhill, extended to provide the transport infrastructure required for a landfill at Ashdown
- Stephen Hardy outlined his work as Chairman of the Landfill Tax Trust
BALI has found these meetings with Ibstock frank, useful and informative. We hope to arrange a further meeting for May 2009.
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