As the amount of waste going to landfill sites reduces, the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) had been in danger of shrinking.
The Wildlife Trusts, including BBOWT, asked MPs to lobby the Treasury to increase the amount of funding that companies operating landfill facilities can put into the Fund. These companies are allowed to offset their contributions against their landfill tax payments.
Tom Beckett, BBOWT’s Director of External Affairs, said: “We were hoping that the Treasury would increase the amount that companies can contribute to the fund to 6%. In the event, the Chancellor increased it from 4% to 5.3%, but that should be enough to enable the Fund to continue at its current level. This is good news for wildlife, at least in the short term.
“We are particularly grateful to the local MPs: John Bercow MP for Buckingham, Cheryl Gillan MP for Chesham & Amersham, Andrew Smith MP for Oxford East and Victoria Prentis MP for Banbury, who wrote to the Treasury about this issue on our behalf.”
What has the Landfill Communities Fund done for BBOWT?
Projects that have been supported by the Landfill Communities Fund through grant-giving bodies include: the Wild Oxford project, improvements to wildlife habitats at Iffley Meadows in Oxford, Bernwood Forest in Bucks, Chimney Meadows in Oxfordshire and the Upper River Ray - Enhancing and Restoring Floodplain Meadows project in Bucks, and wildflower meadow restoration at Moor Copse in Berkshire.
The LCF grant-giving bodies that fund BBOWT projects include: WREN’s FCC Biodiversity Action Fund, SITA Trust and Biffa Award.