Thumbs Up for Liberal Democrat Council's Environment Efforts

11.02.07pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 26th Jun 2005

Milton Keynes Council's Environmental Services team has been praised as "good with promising prospects for improvement" in a new report from the Audit Commission.

Recycling, good performance in dealing with planning applications, and success in reducing road accidents are all praised in the report from the Commission.

The service gets a two-star rating in the report, which says:

• The Council has identified improving the environment as a top corporate priority

• The Council's performance compares well with the other councils in most areas of environmental services

• The Council is using the principles of sustainable development effectively to guide new development in the Borough

• Satisfaction levels with recycling facilities and civic amenity sites are strong

• The Council has a track record of delivering improvement.

In the report Andy Burns, the Audit Commission's senior manager, said: "The Council has ambitious aims for its environment service, which councillors and staff are working hard to deliver."

Areas highlighted for improvement include ensuring that the actions in the bus strategy, such as bus priority measures, real-time passenger information and new and improved interchange and waiting facilities are delivered, and strengthening the Council's focus on waste minimisation.

Councillor Douglas McCall, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for Environment and Localities said: "We are pleased with this report, which clearly recognises that the Liberal Democrat Council has made green issues one of the Council's key priorities and has also recognised our strengths - particularly when it comes to our efforts on recycling.

"But we mustn't rest on our laurels - recycling, for example, was one of the areas highly praised but we still want to encourage as many new local residents as possible to take up recycling as a way of life."

Cllr Graham Mabbutt, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for Transport and Planning, added: "There's a lot of big things on the horizon for Milton Keynes, particularly in terms of growth, and the Audit Commission has recognised how hard we are working to make sure it happens in a sustained and guided way. Increased growth will, of course, bring increased demands on public transport and we are working hard towards ensuring that we are ready for that."