Anne Marie Morris: “The Landfill Communities Fund provides real investment in our community”.

Anne Marie Morris was delighted to see real investment in communities in the Newton Abbot area when she learnt about projects funded by the Landfill Communities Fund recently.

As a guest of Ugbrooke Environmental Ltd’s directors, Lee Martin and Brian Ritterhausen, she went to see several of the two hundred local projects which have benefited from the Landfill Tax Credits system, including Newton Abbot’s Courtenay Centre.

The scheme, introduced under the previous Conservative Government in 1996, has led to £60 million being given to local projects up and down the country. Landfill operators have to pay tax on every tonne of waste they dispose of and are allowed to give part of their landfill tax to certain types of good causes within their local community.

Anne Marie spoke to the Manager of the Pavillion Leisure Centre, Paul Lennox, who told Anne Marie that Ugbrooke’s help had been invaluable. An application is currently being considered by Ugbrooke Environmental Ltd for assistance to re-roof the Pavilion, a leisure centre serving the community in Newton Abbot. Anne Marie hopes that the Pavilion will be better publicised in the future and attract more people to come and make use of the facilities on offer.

Decoy Park is another project which has enhanced the lives of the surrounding community. Anne Marie saw how an impressive skateboarding bowl, built to international competition standards and a BMX course has provided somewhere for older children and teenagers to spend their time.

Anne Marie said: “It was interesting to visit the great projects that have been funded by Ugbrooke however and I’m worried that, proportionally, less and less of the total tax collected is being put into the fund, and more is going to the taxman. We should stop raising landfill taxes and allow landfill companies to invest in alternative forms of waste disposal.

“It’s great when the community gets something back and the Landfill Communities Fund provides real investment in our community.

Ugbrooke Director Brian Ritterhausen said: “Despite the dreadful weather we were able to show Anne Marie around all the major projects. Without the help from the Landfill Communities Fund, I don’t know how any of these projects would have taken place – they would probably have to go on fundraising for many years.”