MASSIVE RESPONSE TO RICHARD BURT'S ENVIRONMENT SURVEY

11.57.58pm GMT Tue 20th Mar 2007

Over 1000 residents have responded to West Worcestershire Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, Richard Burt's recent Environment Survey delivered to homes across the constituency.

The surveys were hand delivered with a letter from Mr Burt asking people to send their views and ideas on how to tackle climate chaos, recycling and protecting our environment in Worcestershire.

Richard Burt said:

"I am delighted with the massive response to my survey, and will be writing to everyone who returned the survey to thank them, giving a detailed breakdown of the findings and how we can put ideas into action here in West Worcestershire.

"A vast majority of respondents said the environment was very important to them and want government and councils to take more action to combat climate chaos, improve recycling and waste fewer resources.

"Many people mentioned the need for supermarkets to cut down on wasteful food packaging, reducing the waste stream going into incinerators or landfill sites.

"Most people agreed that planes should be taxed according to the pollution they cause, and that Vehicle Excise Duty should be reduced for the least polluting vehicles.

"More than half agreed that plastic carrier bags should be taxed, and many people suggested that they should not be supplied free at all by supermarkets.

"People were less convinced of the benefits from solar panels and wind turbines, saying they were too expensive to install and financial returns on energy savings were too small.

"We will be undertaking a detailed analysis of the results and taking up some of the issues that residents have raised to suggest beneficial actions that could be taken by our district councils. I will also present the findings to the Liberal Democrat Environment team in Westminster to help shape future policy."