Communities affected by the disposal of waste to landfill will benefit from a new scheme when landfill disposals tax is introduced in April 2018.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
The scheme will provide grants of between £5,000 and £50,000, including the possibility of supporting one large project of more than £50,000 each year.<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = "O" />
It is anticipated that applications for the new scheme will be considered from communities living within five miles of a landfill site and within five miles of a waste transfer station sending at least 2,000 tonnes of waste to landfill each year. This new approach will cover areas not currently eligible for funding.
The new scheme will be funded through a grant using some of the revenues raised by the landfill disposals tax. All landfill site operators will contribute to community improvements through their tax contribution.
A decision about the amount of revenue allocated to the scheme will be made closer to April 2018.
A single distributive body will run the scheme and the Welsh Government will provide the overall governance of the scheme. A procurement process to appoint the distributive body is expected to begin in spring 2017.
Professor Drakeford said:
“We have spoken with stakeholders over the past two years as we have developed the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Bill. One of the areas most often raised was the future of the Landfill Communities Fund when the tax is devolved to Wales and how a replacement scheme would operate.
“This has resulted in the development of a new Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme, which will ensure communities in Wales affected by the disposal of waste to landfill will benefit from projects to support biodiversity, minimise waste and create other environmental enhancements.
“The changes we are introducing will minimise the administrative costs involved. More importantly, the new grant scheme will maximise the amount of funding reaching community projects and help improve our environment.”