Rachel Curruthers, Household Waste Prevention Officer from West Sussex County Council, gave an interesting and informative talk to around 70 members of Ferring Conservation Group regarding Waste Prevention in West Sussex. Rachel informed us that the UK generates 177 million tonnes of rubbish each year and that just one family uses 6 trees worth of paper per year. The good news is that at least 60% of this waste can be used again.
Rachel’s message to us all was ‘Reduce’ what we use, ‘Reuse’ what we can and ‘Recycle’ what we really cannot use again, and she warned us that as plastic is made from oil it will eventually run out.
Recycling is collected from all households in West Sussex and delivered to the ‘Viridor’ Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) at Ford via a network of transfer stations. At the transfer stations the recycling is bulked up onto bigger vehicles before being transported to the MRF to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. The mixed recycling is mechanically sorted and separated into individual types of material, baled up, then transported to re-processors for manufacturing into new goods and products. A range of technology is employed at the MRF to sort and separate recycling and Rachel stressed the importance of householders ensuring that they only place clean, dry and loose items in their household bins.
After tea Tricia Hall delivered her ever popular Nature Notes by informing us that approximately 2,500 gulls, plus several hundred waders were seen foraging on the Goring Gap. Also around 1,000 Common Gulls had been spotted and despite their name these birds were not often seen in this area. Tricia informed us that mainly due to the recent stormy weather several small sharks (Dogfish), Sea Slugs, ‘By the Wind’ jellyfish (a relative of the ‘Portuguese Man O’ War species), plus 2 porpoises or dolphins had all been washed up on the beach and had sadly succumbed to the elements.
To conclude our meeting Ed Miller updated us with the latest planning news. He advised us that at a meeting to discuss the Arun Local Plan on 14th January, it transpired that although the Planning Inspector had set a revised target of 760 sites per year for the next 15 years, developers are seeking approval for 900 sites per year totalling 13,500 new homes in the Arun district over the next 15 years. The Peugeot garage have won their appeal for a storage facility for up to 100 cars adjacent to their current site. Globe Estates (Southern) Ltd are still awaiting the decision on their appeal for the building of a block of 10 apartments on the former site of Beehive Cottage. Ed advised us of 2 new planning applications the first at 44, Ferringham Lane for 5 bungalows in addition to the existing house and at 34, Sea Lane for 2 bungalows also in addition to the existing house.