RELIGHT MY FIRE
I recently discovered that the Allington Incinerator (despite being in Allington) is actually in my Malling North East Council ward. I found this out after being invited to a briefing to hear all about the new Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) that will open on the site in Spring 2022. This will predominantly serve Maidstone and the northern parts of Tonbridge & Malling, saving residents the time either travelling to Cuxton or the interminably queues at Tovil.
The tip is being built to the highest environmental standards: road surfaces are being made from recycled plastic bottles and the hardstanding for the site will be made from the ash produced at the incinerator It will be a dual-access site, with HGVs moving/replacing the skips having separate access to the public (this is important as it means the tip will remain open when skips are being replaced which doesn't happen elsewhere, for reasons of Health and Safety).
With the ongoing problems with Urbaser I enquired about the impact of T&MBC sending a higher percentage of its waste to the incinerator and the environmental impact this will have. I was informed that the filtration process results in fewer Co2 emissions from incineration as opposed to composting! What we see rising from the chimney at Allington is steam, not smoke.
The electricity produced from the burning of waste (37 megawatts) is sufficient to provide power for every home in Maidstone, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks for a whole year!
Please click HERE to watch an interesting video about how electricity is made from burning waste at Allington.
And here is something that might surprise you....Kent has amongst the lowest rates of Landfill in the UK (at below 1%) - most of which is asbestos (which cannot be incinerated or recycled) along with washed-up whale carcasses, which apparently are far more than you would imagine due to the size of Kent's coastlne!
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CASH FOR GOOD CAUSES
Each member of Kent County Council has access to a £10,000 Community Grant which can be used to support local charities, projects and good causes Since my election I have allocated £500 each to:
- Ditton Minors Football Club for their defibrilator
- Burham Parish Council for litter-picking equipment
- Aylesford Football Club towards their new 3G pitch
- Larkfield Befriending Service who offer support to lonely and isolated people
- £500 for a defibrilator at the soon-to-be-built community centre at Peters Village
- Animals Lost and Found in Kent which uniytes lost pets with their owners
- Ditton Pre-School for their School Garden
- Magdelene Ministries to support their foodbank
I am also using the grant to investigate the installation of a 20mph speed limit in Eccles, where there is no safe crossing over Bull Lane and where Southern Water send over 100 HGVs a day which makes the village very dangerous for adults and children who need to cross the road.
I am limiting donations to a maximum of £500 to try to ensure that the money benefits as many groups as possible Please contact me at andrew.kennedy@kent.gov.uk for further information.
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NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH
Promise made ... promise delivered
Residents may have seen in the Kent Messenger last week that I have written to the leadership of Kent County Council about free lunches provided for councillors, paid for by Council Tax payers. I pledged to refuse, if elected, all forms of civic hospitality as I do not see why tax payers (many struggling to make ends meet) should pay higher council tax so that we can eat at your expense. This has not made me popular with my colleagues but my pledge to residents is more important than the wrath of a few councillors in the lunch queue! You can read my letter below
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- A small success, but worth reporting nonetheless: the mini-roundabout at the junction of Rochester Road and the High Street in Aylesford, has recently been repainted along with the give way lines, and the adjacent pot-holes have also been filled.
- Whilst talking about small victories, I am pleased to report that I persuaded Kent Highways to delay the resurfacing of Rochester Road in Burham until after the utility companies have dug it up. The original plan was for the road to be excavated 10 days AFTER the road had been relaid!
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I would like to wish the new Leader of TBMC, Cllr Matt Boughton, every success. I know Matt well; he is intelligent, articulate, well-intentioned and totally understands the challenges he faces in restoring TMBCs reputation following the bin fiasco. In a three-cornered contest for the leadership I voted for Matt as I thought he offered the change we need to break with past mistakes.
I am also delighted to report that Matt has appointed me as Tonbridge and Malling's Mental Health Champion (an unpaid roll) which will enable me to continue my commitment to speak up for the thousands of people who daily (and often alone) struggle with depression, anxiety and isolation - reflecting the excellent work that our local MP, Tracey Crouch, is already doing Nationally on this subject.
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