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Agenda item

Street Cleansing Review (00:48:30)

To receive a report from the Waste & Transport Manager providing Members with an update on the Street Cleansing Service Review undertaken in 2016 and proposed actions from that review.

Minutes:

The Group had before it a report * from the Waste & Transport Manager providing Members with an update on the Street Cleansing Service Review undertaken in 2016 and proposed actions from that review. The Waste and Transport Manager explained that the review had been undertaken as a desktop exercise.

 

The officer explained that the recommendations within the review included the appointment of an extra litter picking team, which was highlighted within the Corporate Plan, and that he intended to report back to the Group in 12 months time with further options to move the service forward.

 

The officer explained that there were no performance indicators for street cleansing but that benchmarking had been undertaken along with consultation with Town and Parish Councils.  This report was a starting point for a service that had not had any major work undertaken for several years.

 

Discussion took place regarding:

 

·         The bench marking data provided and the difficulty in comparing costs due to different authorities using differing accounting methods;

 

·         The different levels of cleansing provided to towns and parishes;

 

·         The additional litter picking ‘blitz’ team and the works that it was envisaged would be allocated to them;

 

·         The recommendation that ‘any bin will do’ and the fact that this would not be appropriate in play areas;

 

·         The ‘any bin will do’ campaign could free up bins to be placed in areas identified as being in need.

 

It was AGREED that the Litter and Dog Bin Policy be brought to the next meeting of the Group for further review.

 

It was AGREED that the questions asked by Willand Parish Council at public question time would be responded to in writing.

 

It was RECOMMENDED that the Cabinet approve the recommendations below, with the additional wording ‘where appropriate’ to be added to recommendation v) regarding dog bins.

 

a)    Categorise land according to EPA.

b)    Measure current productivity of service.

c)    Cost option for output frequency rather than input.

d)    Cost different frequencies options(less and more) for the mechanical street sweeping  service.

e)    Check schedules against adopted highways maps and address any anomalies.

f)     Reroute schedules into zones so all mechanical sweepers work in the same area at the same time.

g)    Map and review Parish Sweeper routes and evaluate efficiency.

h)   An additional two person parish sweeper team is introduced at cost of £54,500 p.a.

i)     Risk-assess all high speed roads that are litter picked.

j)      Litter picking of the two high speed road verges is reinstated and undertaken twice per year and laybys every two months.

k)    A review of weekend sweeping is undertaken and costed.

l)     Benchmark the cost effectiveness of town council work/grants and review the routes to ensure that is not duplicating work done by the District Council’s cleansing service.

m)  If these working arrangement are to continue, provide a service level agreement for three years from April 2018.

n)   If these working arrangements are to continue, inform Town Clerks of future training so their operatives may attend also.

o)    Re-introduction of using NI195 criteria to assess street cleanliness by District Officers once a quarter.

p)    New transfer station to include a skip for road sweepings so they can be composted.

q)    Purchase three split recycling litter bins one for each town centre to assess their success.

r)     Continue to encourage voluntary groups and investigate whether litter picking groups would be happy to litter pick where advised by Parish/Town/District Councils.

s)    Review all existing bin locations and conduct a condition survey.

t)     Pressure wash clean all bins once a year.

u)   Introduce “Any bin will do!” stickers on litter bins.

v)    Street Cleaners to report any bins that are frequently filled with household waste, for District Officers to investigate. 

w)   Regular contact with estates to effective joint working.

x)    District Officers and Town Councils to meet once a month to discuss issues.

y)    MDDC to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with Highways England.

z)    Create an “online look up” for street sweeping schedules.

 

(Proposed by Cllr D R Coren and seconded by Cllr B Evans)

 

Note: - Report * previously circulated and attached to Minutes.

Supporting documents: