24 March - Blocked drains explained
The tail end of the Places Scrutiny Committee dealt with Street Cleaning and
and the recently completed recycling rate improvement plan.
It
was said that residential street cleaning is on a three weekly schedule which
you may believe if you like. (I have been monitoring small items of rubbish in
the gutter of my own road and suspect it is more than a year old. Gully cleaning
is now a CountryStyle responsibility which may explain some of the flooding here in the North.
Once again it was left to Councillor Smith (Conservative, St. Mary’s &
St. James) to ask the sensible questions. Are the worst affected residential
streets swept more often than others and are the mini-recycling
sites monitored by TV? It was accepted that fly tipping at these sites was a problem and they are now on a daily
cleaning schedule. (My nearby site does appear to be cleared much more often than it used to be.)
A site where CCTV was installed saw a reduction in offending but there is no
“moving of resources from cleaner to dirtier areas” because “the cleaner areas would deteriorate”.
(I think that is what is known as a very weak argument.)
Councillor Mabel Ogundayo (Labour, Thamesmead East) noted that the
cost of removal of large household items has risen to
£42 and asked how that compared with other boroughs. She had had two items
removed recently by a contractor for less money. A quick collection is
advertised but that isn’t really true. It was admitted that there were only 20
collections slots per day and maybe fewer if items are too large. Sofas etc.
The £42 is cost neutral. (Sounds like they should hand the service to Mabel’s
contractor. For the record, Greenwich charges £12·27 per item or set of items, like table and chairs.)
Labour Councillors Ball and Hinkley both wanted to see more Community Litter
Picking, the system is working well and needs to be better advertised. The
Council Officer thought that volunteers should be issued with hi-viz vests but
Councillor Hinkley strongly disagreed. She wanted to remain a volunteer and not look like a Council Official.
The main conclusion of the recycling improvement Sub-Committee
is that there is a need for more communication with residents. The collection from flats was felt to be inadequate. Cabinet Member Diment said that all boroughs are noticing an element of ‘Recycling Fatigue’
but Bexley is slowly improving whilst most other boroughs are not.
The Sub-Committee recommendations
may be seen here.
