Adrian Russell, Environmental Services, will give a presentation of the Environmental Services work carried out in the Fosse ward and invite suggestions for the 10,000 Trees Project.
Minutes:
Adrian Russell, Service Director, Environmental Services gave a presentation on the work carried out by Environmental Services in the Fosse Ward between January and June 2008. There was also a newsletter distributed to everyone which provided further information
Adrian stated that there were a wide range of services offered in the following areas:
There was currently a weekly kerbside collection operated which collected recyclables and residual waste and there was also a bulk collection service. Adrian reported that there had been 1, 564 missed bin collections citywide between January and June 2008, this was at an average of 71 per ward with the number of bins not collected in the Fosse ward being 58 which was lower than the average. Adrian mentioned that any missed bins should always be collected the next day.
Statistics were presented on how much waste was being recycled, composted and diverted from landfill between January and June 2008. Adrian commented that currently 33% of waste was being recycled and composted and 9% of waste was being recovered and used as fuel. This meant that currently 42% of waste was being diverted from the landfill. Adrian stated that the target was to divert 60% from the landfill and they hoped to achieve that target this year.
Data was presented on Cleansing Services. Adrian reported that there had been 1,608 fly tipping incidents in the city which averaged out at 73 per ward. In the Fosse ward there had been 58 fly tipping incidents reported which was below the city wide average. There had been no reported abandoned vehicles in the Fosse Ward. A member of the public claimed they had witnessed an abandoned vehicle with four flat tyres outside Fosse Neighbourhood Centre. Adrian agreed to check this after the meeting. It was also mentioned that there had been 2 incidents reported of discarded needles and 6 incidents reported of Graffiti removal in the Fosse ward which were both below the city wide average.
Street cleanliness inspections had found that the Fosse ward had above average cleanliness rates compared to citywide averages with regards to litter, graffiti, fly posting and fly tipping. Adrian commented that the inspections depended on how the streets chosen to be inspected looked on the day when the assessments were carried out.
Adrian commented that with regards to graffiti on the green cable boxes they had reached an agreement with Virgin Media who owned the boxes to provide some funding to help clear up the graffiti. However Virgin Media had stated that there were only 1,000 green boxes in the city whereas this figure was thought to be much higher.
Statistics were presented on incidents concerning rubbish and litter on private land, pest control and dog wardens and how the Fosse ward compared in all these areas compared to citywide from January to June 2008. There had been eight reported incidents of rubbish in alleyways and 13 reported incidents of rubbish on private land in the Fosse ward. Both of these statistics were higher than the citywide average. There had also been two reported incidents of vacant or derelict premises in the Fosse ward however this was lower than the citywide average.
With regards to pest control, Adrian mentioned that there had been more reported incidents of rats than any other pest in the Fosse ward however reports of all pests were lower than the citywide average.
There had been 12 reports of stray dogs in the ward which was lower than the citywide average, eight reports of noisy dogs in the ward which was slightly higher than the citywide average and 3 reported incidents of dog fouling in the ward which again was slightly lower than the citywide average. Adrian stated that from September 2008 there would be Dog Control Orders introduced which would mean there would be tougher powers to deal with problems such as removal of dog faeces, keeping dogs on a lead when instructed to do so and the exclusion of dogs from entering play areas across the city.
Information was presented on the Council’s noise control service. The service was operated 9am – 2am Monday to Friday and 2pm – 2am Saturdays and Sundays. Adrian mentioned that this was one of the busiest services and that reported incidents of Noise problems were higher in the Fosse ward than the citywide average with domestic noise being one of the most reported problems.
With regards to Licensing in the area, Adrian reported that there had been one new application for the Aldi store on Woodgate for a licence to sell alcohol. It was also mentioned that the Blackbird Public House and the Bargain Booze premises in the Fosse ward had both had conditions added to their licence due to the fact that they had sold alcohol to underage customers.
With regards to Business Regulation in the area, Adrian reported that the firm R and Chapman had been identified as selling dangerous vehicles to customers and had been forced to rectify this problem. There had also been an incident where an employee of City Line Taxis had been interview because he had been smoking in work vehicles.
Adrian mentioned that the earth tremor that had previously occured had meant there were over 100 call outs for the dangerous buildings department to deal with the maintenance of buildings across the city.
It was reported that the Fosse Recreation Ground Group had previously undertaken a clean up of Fosse Recreation Ground and would be doing so again on Sunday 31 August between 10am and 1pm.
Adrian informed everyone that there was a new initiative from the Council to plant 10,000 trees over the next 3 years and there was currently a public consultation underway with regard to this. He added that there had already been 1,500 trees planted as part of initiative and encouraged members of the public to provide suggestions as to where the other 8,500 could be planted.
A member of the public raised concern that the people who came to collect the waste were unable to turn into streets due to cars being parked on street corners, however she praised the service because they had still collected the waste under difficult circumstances.
A member of the public queried whether it was illegal to leave your waste bin on the pavement. Adrian commented that it was not illegal however it was not recommended. He added that in order to get someone to remove their bin off the pavement a notice had to be served which would then mean they would have to comply with the notice. He added that the Street Warders, which were to be shortly introduced in the city, would be looking into issues such as this.
The Chair thanks Adrian for his presentation.