Do you want to play an active role in your local community?

Would you like to help improve the environment where you live?

Whatever your views and interests there could be an important role for you!

The Environment Agency is looking for people from all backgrounds and walks of life to join their Regional Advisory Committees throughout England and Wales.  

Meeting four times a year, members bring their ideas to the table, helping to shape and influence the Environment Agency’s policies. They will also have a role in providing suggestions and advice on how these polices will work in practice – protecting and improving the environment in local communities. 

The Environment Agency is looking for new members to join one of two committees: 

·         The Regional Environment Protection Advisory Committee (REPAC) focuses on how the Environment Agency protects the environment. Committee members have an important role in looking at how the Environment Agency is doing, the direction they should be going and what their priorities should be.

§         The waterways of England and Wales are a crucial resource where many people live work and play. The Regional Fisheries, Ecology & Recreation Advisory Committee (RFERAC) looks at how the Environment Agency improves and develops fisheries, ecology, recreation and river navigation. The committee has an important role in conserving and improving this vital part of our environment.

The Environment Agency wants committee members to act as:

·         Advisors – provide informed advice, from those that are regulated and from independent experts

·         Networkers – help the Environment Agency form new partnerships and influence key agendas

·         Critical friends – constructively challenge the Environment Agency’s approach and monitor and advise on its achievements 

Committee member roles are non-salaried but members are entitled to claim travel expenses and, in some cases, subsistence and financial loss allowance may also be payable.

The new terms begin on April 1, 2007 and appointments will be made for up to three years. Committee meeting are held four times a year during office hours, usually at the Environment Agency’s regional head offices.

Anyone interested in applying or nominating someone else should contact Helen Leyland on 020 7863 8769, e-mail helen.leyland@environment-agency.gov.uk or by writing Helen at: Environment Agency, Millbank Tower, 25^th Floor, 21 – 24 Millbank, London SW1P 4XL. The closing date is January 31, 2007.