Kathy Pollard, Lib Dem leader at the county council, said one of her biggest criticisms of the council's environmental performance was the way the Nottingham Declaration - a document committing local authorities to the Kyoto agreement - had been “watered down” and targets removed.

By David Green

Kathy Pollard, Lib Dem leader at the county council, said one of her biggest criticisms of the council's environmental performance was the way the Nottingham Declaration - a document committing local authorities to the Kyoto agreement - had been “watered down” and targets removed.

She had tabled questions about what measures would be taken to reduce energy usage in the hundreds of buildings owned or rented by the county council but had received no satisfactory answers.

“We are expected a 45% hike in electricity charges so it is very important,” she said.

Mrs/Ms Pollard said the Lib Dems had also raised the issue of the volume of business miles travelled by officers each year.

She and her colleagues were concerned about the move by the council to source more environmental services from the private sector in future.

“If you set something up in contract and then there are policy changes you often can't change the contract,” she said.

The Lib Dem group on the council is opposing the ruling Tory group plans for a municipal incinerator to help solve the county's future waste problems.

“Apart from the capital cost being very high we feel there is a risk that waste could be diverted from the recycling stream. If the retail industry reduces its packaging waste, for instance, there could be problems supplying the amount of waste contracted to be supoplied to the incinerator

“We already have one of the best recycling rates in the country. We are ahead of targets and there is no pressure to go ahead with an incinerator,” Mrs/Ms Pollard said.