Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 As reported to the Waste Sub Committee on 10^th September 2001, Avon Friends of the Earth have been seeking grant funding from the Social, Economic, Environmental, Development Fund (SEED) to begin an extensive new project using horse drawn collections of recyclable materials. It has now been confirmed that the grant of £48,100 over two years has been allocated from the SEED fund.

1.2 This also means that other grants, £38,000 from the British Oxygen Company (BOC) Foundation, £1,000 from Wessex Water and £10,000 from Shell will now also be released, to give a total of £97,100.

1.3 A revised Action Plan is being prepared by Avon FoE and B&NES Waste Services, to ensure that the project fulfils it's objectives. These include moving the service to an urban area, where the horses can collect more efficiently, and researching and developing the most efficient collection method.

2.0 RECOMMENDATION

2.1 That members note and approve the project in principle including moving the horses to a more urban area (probably Keynsham) and to begin the extensive project to find the most effective horse drawn collection system.

Printed on recycled paper

3.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 Financing the horse drawn service from external grants will realise a cost saving of approximately £8K. This saving is needed to fund the council's expanding kerbside recycling, as increasing quantities of material are collected for recycling.

3.2 The horses also provide publicity, education, and increased environmental awareness with is difficult to measure in monetary terms.

3 THE REPORT

4.1Previous reports in September 2001 and January 2002 have identified both the advantages and disadvantages of the current system. The most important task is to move the horse drawn service to a less hilly and more densely populated area. Work on finding such an alternative site is ongoing, and a potential site has been identified in Keynsham.

3.1 As it is over a year since the original business plan was written, it will now be reviewed before work on the trials begins.