Report of the Head of Waste Operations and Streetscene.
Minutes:
Waste and Street
Scene Presentation:
Considered: a verbal
presentation by the Head of Waste Operations and Streetscene
and Associate
Director for Environmental Services who delivered an update on the services’
progress through LGR and now into the new authority.
Michael Leah (Associate Director for Environmental Services) began by
explaining that the new structure was being implemented and had started by
appointing Harry Briggs as the Head of Waste Operations and Streetscene.
The service was currently working to implement the remaining parts of the finalised
Waste and Street Scene structure but they were keen to maintain service
delivery and day to day operations which included household collections and a
range of other waste services. Performance stats had demonstrated that the
service had been unaffected by LGR and as of summer 2023 the service had been
taking steps to improve the service’s delivery with some improvements in missed
collections and a reduction in complaints.
Harry Briggs continued the presentation and explained that the service
was prioritising services that directly affected members of the public such as
waste collection, commercial waste services and street cleansing. Whilst
maintaining frontline services the team were working to harmonise services
across the county and ensure they could respond to the varying needs of the
different areas. The service had also formulated costs for services as one team
and had now provided one calendar that anyone in the county could use to see
when their collection was. There was now an area manager for the Harrogate and
Craven region who would be responsible for performance and improving services
in the local area.
In terms of the litter bin project Harry explained that there were more
than 1500 litter bins in the former Harrogate BC area and it was key to assess
the number, location of these litter bins and also the
condition over which some concern had been raised. The service was looking to
provide a comprehensive service while also lowering operating costs and
therefore litter bins were to be emptied in the regular rounds of household
collections rather than a dedicated service. They had increased the size of the
litter bins so that they had enough capacity to last between these collections.
The service was soon to have completed roll-out of the new bins and officers
would review the success of the project once it was complete.
In Discussion:
Members expressed concern about the placement of the new bins which were
often closer to a road than where members of the public actually
needed them. Another concern was raised about dog poo litter bins and
whether there was a consistent policy and communications to advise members of
the public. There was significant concern that if these litter bins are going
to be emptied only once a fortnight then this could
become a public health hazard. In responding to these points Harry explained
that they were wheely bins and placed close to roads so that the collection
teams could access them easily. As the project was near completion now was the
right time to review the location and number of bins and officers would take
the feedback from members into account during the review. Harry confirmed that
officers would meet with Knaresborough Town Council for a site visit and
consider any collection or enforcement issues.
Michael explained policies for the service were currently being reviewed
and he was keen to look at littering, he would consult with Members and
community groups to gauge what could be done to eliminate littering in their
respective areas. In response to a question about street cleansing Harry
explained that resources were not being reduced, it was just a case of
assessing where best to use specific resources. In response to a question about
the roll-out of the domestic blue bins, Michael advised that this was a policy
of HBC and the new service was still looking at harmonising services one of
which was household collections. The reasons some households had these new
wheely bins and others did not was primarily down to the way the collections
rounds were formulated, ultimately they were looking
to have wheelie bins county wide as soon as funding was available. In response
to a question about bin placement strategy aligning with major walking routes
in and out of town it was confirmed that the service would be happy to consult
on any such areas of concern. Michael also explained that he had discussed a
text communication service with the Council’s communications team and a county
wide text service would require funding before it could be instituted. Councillor
Aldred expressed his thanks to the service for its professional and reliable
approach to collections regardless of the weather. In response to a question
Michael confirmed that the service took the weather and safety of crews
seriously, during the hot period in the summer the crews were permitted to wear
sun hats and shorts and water had been provided.
-
CCTV was standard in all new vehicles and was
there for reasons such as welfare and to provide evidence in cases where it was
claimed that a bin lorry had collided with someone or something. It was not
there to monitor the behaviour or performance of the crews.
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In response to a question from Councillor Slater
Michael explained that it would be mandatory for Councils to make weekly food
waste collections from 2026. NYC,
working in partnership with York Council, had received permission to delay the
transition to food collection until 2043 to allow for the end of the contract
with Allerton Waste Recovery Park. The
Leader of the Council had written to DEFRA to see if the Council could achieve
an earlier date, the Government had subsequently allotted £4.8m to each Council
to be spent on setting up food collection services but they were withholding
the money until a service was operational.
The Council was appealing to the Government for these funds beforehand
which would allow the Council to set the service up