A lucky Chelmsford resident has won a year's supply of teabags, enough to make over 1000 cups of tea, as part of a campaign run by Chelmsford City Council and consumer goods company Unilever.

Tea lover, Elaine Finn-Davies of Purcell Cole, Writtle, was presented with the prize by Chelmsford Mayor Cllr Christopher Kingsley at a ceremony today, 23 October, alongside representatives from the City Council and Unilever.

Chelmsford City Council's Recycling and Waste Depot is holding an Open Day event on Saturday 8 September - providing a rare opportunity for residents to see how the recycling process works and learn more about waste collection services.

There will be tours of the depot taking place and a chance to look around the collection vehicles. The Material Sorting Facility will be in full working action, which uses state-of-the-art technology to sort the recycling after it has been collected from Chelmsford homes.

Chelmsford Council is giving away free bags of compost in Hylands Park tomorrow, Saturday 12 May, 10am - 3pm for #compostawarenessweek The giveaway will take place in Hylands Park, near the Writtle Road entrance.

The giveaway uses compost made from recycled garden waste collected at the kerbside and at recycling centres, and will be distributed on a first come, first served basis with one large bag given to each household.

Chelmsford Council will improve its waste and recycling collections by collecting on four (longer) days a week instead of five. This means no delayed collections in weeks with a Bank Holiday Monday. Also, everyone will have recyclables and other waste collected on the same day, which is not the case for everyone at the moment.

Liberal Democrats have approved a motion strengthening the party's commitment to making this the greenest government ever.

The motion welcomed the Coalition's Green Deal, Green Investment Bank and ambitious carbon reduction targets.

It also called for improvements in energy efficiency and support for green infrastructure, transport and technologies.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey said:

"The Liberal Democrats were campaigning for the environment long before it was fashionable.

"This is the greatest challenge of our age and the Liberal Democrats will not back down in the fight against climate change.

"Making this the greenest government ever won't be easy, but it is the right thing for Britain and the planet.

"We are building a new economy from the rubble of the old, an economy with green jobs and green technologies at its heart."

A planning application for houses north and north-east of Springfield ("Greater Beaulieu Park") has been revised slightly. Two years ago ZEST Countryside Properties asked for "up to 4,000 houses" but now they have reduced this to "up to 3,600 houses".

Commented Cllr. Stephen Robinson (who created the Don't Choke Chelmsford campaign): "The other application for well over 600 houses near Channels Golf Course means that developers are, in total, asking for vastly more than the 3,200 houses indicated in the North Chelmsford Area Action Plan, the council's strategic plan for the area.

Chelmsford Council has given planning permission for 135 houses in fields off Patching Hall Lane (see Committee Agenda). Local Lib Dem Councillors Stephen Robinson and Alan Arnot attended to speak up for local residents. Cllr. Robinson spoke out about a number of traffic concerns - in particular, the exit from Skerry Rise onto Broomfield Road and the Hollow Lane / Patching Hall Lane / School Lane junction.

Chelmsford Council was taken to task this evening for failing to give a high enough priority to new community facilities, public open space and new jobs for residents. The Liberal Democrat group told the Council's Development Policy Committee that these issues should have been addressed in the Site Allocations Document, which was under debate.

Figures published today show that since April companies have announced plans for almost £2.5bn of investment in renewable energy projects in the UK, with the potential to create almost 12,000 jobs across the country. Lib Dem Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne MP reaffirmed the Coalition's commitment to meeting EU renewable energy targets, namely 15% of all energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Moves are in hand today to stabilise our energy costs and reduce the impact of oil price rises. A senior Liberal Democrat is in meetings to lobby EU chiefs for a European supergrid carrying renewable energy.

Lib Dem MEP Sir Graham Watson is Chairman of a global network (of MPs and MEPs from all mainstream political parties) campaigning to increase government investment in renewable energy and electricity supergrids. The network is called the Climate Parliament and is today holding meetings with two different European Commissioners.