East Midlands Division Biography
The East Midlands is a well supported democratic friendly Division. Its main source of membership is from Local Authorities but also includes those from the private sector, consultancies and Government Institutions and Agencies. The Division is constituted from the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Rutland, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The Division in it's past history was concerned with smoke control and initiated a committee with NETCEN to provide clearer information on smoke control orders.
It holds three Divisional Council meetings per year in February, June and October. The meetings are held with the kind permission of Newark and Sherwood District Council at the historic Kelham Hall near Newark, Nottinghamshire. These meetings help the Division formulate policy and an action plan for the year and also provide a forum for reports from National Representatives, Trustees and a communication channel for environmental issues within the area. The Environment Agency and Health Protection Agency are members of the Council and help with this process.
In addition, the Division's aim is to hold at least four Open Meetings per year at various locations throughout the Divisional area. These meetings take the format of a short business meeting followed by three or four technical presentations, lunch and then a site visit at the hosting company. The members and guests pay for lunch and a small administration charge.
The meetings conform to the format requested by members after being consulted in a questionnaire! It does seem to be successful with attendance in the mid-twenties and thirties and up to just under one hundred for a meeting at the British Geological Survey when the theme was remediation of contaminated land. We try to identify a topical theme for each meeting so this focuses the discussion and attendance for members. A panel question and answer session after the presentations encourages discussion and debate.
We have had Open Meetings out of the area and have visited a variety of companies including Corus Steel Rolling Mill, EON, Ratcliffe Coal Fuel Power Station, Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station, combined heat and power plants, experimental farms, British Sugar Beet Manufacturing, Rolls Royce Engineering, Toyota Car manufacturing plant, waste recycling plants, incineration plants and North Lincolnshire's land reclamation scheme at Waters Edge.
The Division is indebted to a number of dedicated individuals who give up their time to support, help and encourage the activities of the organisation, both locally and nationally. The Division is also very great full for the support of the British Geological Survey and Corsair Ltd. an environmental consultancy.
Find out more eastmidlands@environmental-protection.org.uk