Cowboys' charter
Page 20
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e write to express our concerns over the implementation of the landfill tax which becomes operative from 1 October. There are two aspects relating to the tax: firstly the household or general rubbish type. and secondly inert, which creates little or no problem to society The tax will be levied only on licensed waste and landfill sites and leaves works classed as engineering free of penalty, which we are certain will lead to massive abuse— particularly as the tax effectively doubles the cost of disposing of the waste.
The changes will create a charter for the cowboy operator who will seize upon this lucrative way of maximising income, before splitting up the company before the tax is due.
We are told the matter went to consultation some months ago without referring to companies such as ours. To accept the conclusions of bodies such as local authorities is farcical, to say the least, as it is the public and the industry that will pay if it goes wrong.
We therefore suggest that tax on inert waste should be scrapped or at least put on hold until an in depth review has taken place.
P J Brown
Civil engineering and haulage contractors, Crawley, West Sussex.