Heacham Green Team
THURSDAY 13 JUNE 2013
Present: Mr M Johnson (HPC), Mrs P Sewell(Parish Clerk), Mr M Drew,
Mrs J Barrow, Mr C Abbiss, Mrs J Abbis and Mrs P Diggins
Apologies: Mr R Drinkwater (HPC), Mr M Diggins and Mr T Parish (HPC)
Minutes of last meeting of the Team were approved
1. Update
Mrs Sewell reported that the group’s email address had been set up, the address was . Mrs Sewell would send everyone an email with the password to access the email page. Meeting reports would be stored on the website as well as a copy of the letterhead so members could access information when required. Mrs Sewell said that she had also created a page on the Parish Council’s website, www.heachamparishcouncil.co.uk which would promote the work of the Green Team.
Mrs Sewell also confirmed that the Borough Council had confirmed that they hoped to include glass recycling in the green bin collection from next April.
2. Norfolk Waste Reduction Action Team
The Team welcomed Martina Glason from Norfolk County Council.
Master Composters: This was a free scheme to train volunteers to help their community to become better composters. Mr Johnson expressed an interest in becoming a master composter.
Funding Schemes: There were a couple of funding opportunities for green or recycling projects. The Team discussed how they might access this funding stream as they had no bank account. Mrs Sewell said that for the moment the Green Team operated as a sub-committee of the Parish Council and if funders allowed, the Council could hold the money for the short term or until such times as the group wanted to become more independent.
Recycling Credits: Mrs Glason said that as well as earning money for recycling products, groups or parish council’s could earn recycling credits. Clothing was the most profitable at the moment at £46.00 a tonne. Mrs Sewell said that there were several clothing bins in the village: Scout Hut, Tesco and Fire Station and the Junior School ran a rag bag collection once a year.
Food Waste: Mrs Glason said that although it was great that the take up of the food waste bins had been very successful in West Norfolk. The best solution, however would be for little or no food waste at all. The Love food Hate waste campaign were looking for champions who could highlight food waste and offer solutions to reduce waste in their communities.
Collection of Foil: Mrs Glason responded about foil recycling. Clean foil trays etc could be taken the recycling centre. Tin foil itself was not collected due to the requirement that it had to be sorted by hand.
Other Matters:
Mrs Glason said that she would be happy to attend a Green Team event. The Team noted that all the schemes related to household waste, but that there appeared to be limited incentives for businesses to recycle. The Team thanked Mrs Glason for coming to speak at the meeting. Mrs Glason said that she was very impressed by the initiative and would help where she could and directed the Team to keep an eye on the Norfolk County Council website for waste reduction campaigns.
3. Action
Recycling Plastics: Matthew Project Scheme
Mrs Barrow confirmed that St Mary’s Church was already up and running and collecting lids. Mrs Sewell confirmed that the Library would be a collection point. Heacham First School have since confirmed that they will be a collection point, no word yet from the Scouts. Mrs Diggins agreed to redesign the poster as the original was not very clear. Mr Abbiss would pass on their spare grey bin, so Mrs Diggins could store collections until such times as they could be collected by Rotary. Mrs Sewell would source suitable bins for the Library and School.
Dog Fouling:
Mrs Sewell confirmed that the poster would go in the July Newsletter.
Newsletter
Details of the lid recycling scheme would go in the Newsletter as well as information about the master composters,glass recycling and food champions.
Living Lightly
Mrs Abbis said that the Church would be hosting Ruth Valeno in November and she would be speaking on “Living Lightly”. It might be possible to arrange for her to talk to the rest of the village.
4. Next Meeting
The next meeting would be held on Thursday 11 July at 12.00noon, Parish Council Office. (Mrs Barrow gave her apologies).