Agenda item

Further to Minute No. 53 of the meeting of the Improving Places Select Commission held on 27th March, 2013, consideration was given to a report, presented by the Director of Streetpride, concerning progress with the implementation of the action plan arising from the scrutiny review of this Council’s Grounds Maintenance and Street Cleansing services. A copy of the updated action plan was included with the submitted report.

The report stated that the main areas of progress are:-

:      the adaptation of machinery and equipment (e.g.: the introduction of different mowing machines and street cleansing vehicles);

:      changes to operative working hours (e.g.: trialling of more flexible working hours);

:      changes to methods of operation (e.g.: introduction of wild flower schemes, areas of relaxed maintenance, and alternative approaches to scheduled work);

:      the identification of additional resources to provide a greater number of grass cuts on certain housing sites (nb: the sustainability of this action is uncertain due to budget constraints);  and

:      the identification of a budget partially to support employee absences due to leave (nb: this budget will be introduced in 2014/15).

Members noted the following continuing challenges faced by these services:-

:      the capacity to adapt to the impact of weather conditions (e.g.: during times of severe weather, or of fast vegetation growth);

:      the impact of cost increases (e.g.: of fuel and equipment); and

:      the impact of worsening attitudes to littering, fly tipping, etc.

The Select Commission’s discussion of this issue included the following salient issues:-

:      the use of urban gardening (eg: planting of vegetables) as an alternative to shrub-bed areas – community groups and organisations such as ‘Rotherham in Root’ are invited to suggested suitable, safe areas for this initiative; an early example exists at the ‘walled garden’ in Clifton Park, Rotherham;

:      the efficient and effective use of limited resources – (i) the trial scheme of street cleansing undertaken in the Clifton area of Rotherham and (ii) the trial of alternative methods of street cleansing undertaken throughout the Borough area, both during 2013; the outcomes of these trials are currently being evaluated;

:      involving volunteers in the community in street cleansing and litter-picking schemes (eg: at Wath upon Dearne);

:      completion of street cleansing schedules after temporary delays, for example, due to the breakdown of machinery; it was acknowledged that these schedules and priorities were sometimes altered for specific reasons;

:      the current review of the method of removing detritus from the highway (a report is soon to be considered by the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Waste and Emergency Planning);

:      the forthcoming replacement of the street cleansing machinery for use within the Rotherham town centre and in some outlying areas of the Borough; the new machines to be purchased will be capable of being transported to different areas;

:      the arrangements for the collection of green waste, from households, at intervals of four weeks during the Winter months;

:      the impact of budget reductions on service delivery (eg: affecting the removal of weeds from the highway);

:      improvements made to the appearance of certain areas of highway within the Borough (eg: the roundabout at the entrance to Retail World at Parkgate);

:      the comparative expense of replacing soft ground areas (which require regular and frequent maintenance) with low-maintenance, decorative asphalt;

:      grass retardant spraying – and ensuring that the products used are effective, but are not harmful to the environment; the need to adhere to regulations issued by the Environment Agency;

:      the identification of Council-owned sites which may be declared surplus to requirements and eventually offered for sale;

:      the promotion of the grounds maintenance services to schools;

:      the use of ‘Billy-Goat’ machines for street cleansing around the Borough area, although because of noise issues, not in the Rotherham town centre;

:      engaging with the community and supporting community groups in the organisation of volunteer street cleansing and litter-picking (eg: via the Area Assemblies (there are good practices in the Greasbrough/Rockingham area) and with funding from the Councillors’ Community Leadership Fund); the role of the volunteer Streetpride champions;

:      Councillors and Council employees being ‘ears and eyes’ in the community and reporting issues which require attention from the Streetpride service;

:      this Council spends a relatively low amount, per head of population, on street cleansing and grounds maintenance services, in comparison to Rotherham’s statistical neighbour local authorities.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That a further progress report be submitted to this Select Commission, in twelve months’ time, on the progress of the implementation of the action plan arising from the scrutiny review of this Council’s Grounds Maintenance and Street Cleansing services.