A load of rubbish? Hull council Oslo fact-finding trip branded 'waste of money'
A COUNCIL fact-finding trip to see how Norwegians dispose of their rubbish has been labelled a waste of money.
Councillors and officials from Hull jetted to Oslo earlier this week on the trip.
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Critic: Councillor John Fareham
They are members of a council working party reviewing different types of waste-management systems.
As part of the review, they have already visited facilities in Sheffield, Rotherham and Swindon.
But the decision to head to the Norwegian capital was today criticised by Conservative group leader John Fareham.
He branded the trip a "clear waste of money" because the working party, a sub-committee of the council's environment scrutiny commission, had no decision-making powers.
He said: "They are going all that way to look at something which you can see already see on a computer.
"There is no pressing need for this and I don't believe it can be justified in these straightened economic times."
Councillor Fareham said the working party could only advise the commission and, ultimately, the council's cabinet, which is due to make a decision on a new waste disposal policy for the region next year.
He said: "When I was chairman of planning, I did sanction similar trips by the committee to help inform members, but the key difference was that planning had full decision-making powers, while this working party does not.
"It is also very hypocritical of the Liberal Democrats to attack someone like the Lord Mayor for some of his civic spending yet the Lib Dem chairman of the commission can happily sanction something like this."
But Councillor John Nicholson, who chairs the environment scrutiny commission, said he was satisfied the trip to Norway was value for money.
He said: "The return flights have cost £27 per person and the only additional cost is an overnight stay at a hotel at Stansted Airport.
"They stayed there the night before and came back on the same day they flew out there.
"The overall cost of all the visits was less than £1,000 and I was quite happy with that.
"We wanted to look at all the available technologies out there to make sure we don't repeat the mistakes of the past, when incineration was put forward as the only option.
"I would have gone to Oslo myself, but I don't have a passport."
14 Comments
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by BevRoadNorth
Friday, November 18 2011, 5:51PM
“They flew over there? In the digital/wireless telecommunications age of web-conferencing, emails, instant messaging and satellite telephonic links? What ever will Hull council get up to next, theyll be resurrecting the Royal Yacht Pratt-ania for the Mayor next...whoops. Nice to see the economic storm is being weathered by Hull's politicians in style.”
by Eleanor91
Thursday, November 17 2011, 10:12PM
“Why go to Oslo on a 'rubbish' trip? What a waste of money. Isn't it time they walked around the city and saw all the rubbish on the streets here? In other cities they have these things called 'bins'. People put rubbish in them. Well decent people do. Others just throw it on the floor. Then it sticks to all the dog muck and stays there till the rain and wind get rid of it. I have visited many cities in the UK and have to say that Hull is the filthiest I have ever seen. The money would have been better spent doing something about the eyesores here, the graffiti and bad pavements and non existant road markings and pot holes. The litter and dog muck. How the councillors can waste public money on Jaunts is beyond me or do they honestly not notice it cos believe me, the few visitors that come here certainly do!!”
by ShanMil
Thursday, November 17 2011, 4:51PM
“John Fareham is a fine one to talk about wasting council money”
by IHeartBeV
Thursday, November 17 2011, 3:46PM
“what a waste of money...the research is all available on line. I know because I worked in the sector for many years. It doesn't matter that the flights were 'only £27' because I'll bet they all claimed expenses for meals etc...”
by superdredge
Thursday, November 17 2011, 3:42PM
“another excuse to get out of the office for a day,dont they make you sick,why or why do they have to go to another country to see how its done,has britain got so stupid that we cant figure out how to get rid of waste,god help us if we have another war what do we do go to say France and ask how we fight it.”
by geeksgeek
Thursday, November 17 2011, 1:22PM
“Funny the man who wins the race for expenses hands down, the councillor who costs the city more than all the others put together is the one who blows the whistle is there a election soon. Congratulations Cllr Fareham and thankyou for highlighting this terrible waste. but it would seem its far less than your expenses for a couple of months.”
by cowboy1962
Thursday, November 17 2011, 12:21PM
“all these cut bk but they can still have there waste of money trip the real question that should be ask here is are we going to vote them bk in next election ? they are not really doing nothing for the city of hull apart from making them self richer all there election promises were are they? how many have they kept ? well now we know y we could not have the fireworks what will the take away next our xmax lights who know ?”
by deanog734
Thursday, November 17 2011, 12:04PM
“Hull is doing perfectly ok with rubbish disposal at the moment. You must be having a laugh! Using overloaded trailers that spill most of their waste down clive sullivan way, then tipping the rest onto a mountain of rubbish alongside the M62. I'm sure the Norwegians can teach us much more efficient and enviormently friendly ways of waste disposal.”
by UrbanReader1
Thursday, November 17 2011, 11:58AM
“Well spotted, January48, and excellent clue from David_Nivea.
Would have mentioned it of course (he says!) but I've done my bit of correction for today under another article.”
by Bill_Billy
Thursday, November 17 2011, 10:57AM
“Wasteful trips to Iceland & now Norway, I wonder how long it wll be before they justify a trip to study how to wear bikinis properly in Spain or the Bahamas?
Typical councillors wasting the taxpayer's money over & over again.
It would also be interesting to hear how many people actually went on this "jolly"”