Sidelining politicians and communities in siting landfill facilities

Within the Irish system, there is a developing body of opinion that the sol ution to finding suitable landfill sites around the country lies in bringin g the responsibility for siting waste management installations back to cent ral government. This paper proposes a restructuring of the local government system, with each authority having at a senior position an elected full-ti me salaried chairman with executive powers, to ensure a balanced input from all involved decision groupings, be they politicians, technical experts or members of the local community.