Tories provoke outrage on North London Waste Authority

Conservative councillors on the North London Waste Authority have provoked outrage by ramming through a series of controversial measures – such as paying recycling credits to Tesco and ending subsidies for reusable nappies – whilst most Liberal Democrat councillors were at their party’s annual conference in Brighton.

The NLWA – which is the waste disposal authority for seven north London boroughs – is made up of five Tories, five Labour and four Lib Dems. The Tory Chair – Cllr Brian Coleman of Barnet – owes his position to the support of the Lib Dem group.

The meeting (Wed 20 Sep, Camden Town Hall) erupted in outrage when Cllr Coleman appeared to take advantage of the absence of most of the Lib Dems to force through changes which were completely unacceptable to those Labour and Lib Dem members present.

Cllr Coleman proposed an amendment to one agenda item which allowed the payment of recycling credits to companies like Tesco, a measure that Lib Dems and Labour rejected earlier in the year. The Chair also forced through an end to the NLWA subsidy for reusable or “real” nappies in north London boroughs. He also effectively closed the North London Recycling Forum – a body where councillors, officers and businesses meet to discuss how to improve recycling techniques – by withdrawing its NLWA grant.

This is a blatant misuse of power as far as I'm concerned. I don’t believe the Lib Dem group would have supported these changes. At a critical juncture – just as we’re preparing to decide waste disposal arrangements for the next 30 years – Cllr Coleman has turned the NLWA into a highly politically charged body rather than one where decisions are fashioned through consensus.

Labour members from Harringey and Hackney (Cllrs Haley, Stopps and Laing) were also incensed and vowed to bring back the agenda items at a future meeting.

I was so furious at the actions of the Tory group that I changed sides in the Chamber to sit alongside the Labour members rather than behind the Tories. If the Chair refuses to bring back these agenda items at the next meeting then our only option is to call for an Emergency Meeting, which two members can do, and have a vote of no confidence in the Chair.