Adrian Russell, Environmental Services, will give a presentation of the Environmental Services work carried out in the Abbey Ward and invite suggestions for the 10,000 Trees Project.
Minutes:
Adrian Russell, gave a presentation on the work that Environmental Services had carried out in the Abbey Ward between January and June 2008. A newsletter was also available, which provided supporting information to the presentation.
Adrian explained that Environmental Services were responsible for a variety of different services, which included the following:
Waste and Recycling – Leicester City achieved a waste composting and recycling rate of 33% and 9% recovered for use as fuel in 2007/08. It was noted that each household was entitled to have five bulky items collected for free and that missed bin collections in the City were at a 0.05% rate.
In response to questions Adrian explained;
· that Biffa had signed a 25 year waste and recycling contract. There was to be a 10 year review when the City Council and Biffa could discuss if any changes were needed.
· that the City Council were not transporting their waste to India, as indicated in the local press. The contract with Biffa had proscribed routes that did not include destinations abroad, this was checked by the Council’s Auditor. As only 18% of the City’s waste was from domestic use it was though that the waste found in India had been transported through private contractors from trade waste.
· that when recycling had been hand sorted items could be donated to youth groups for educational activities, however this was not possible using the Ball Mill. Adrian suggested that young people could visit Biffa’s recycling centre instead, as Biffa often carried out projects for young people.
Street Cleaning – This service dealt with various issues including fly tipping, abandoned vehicles, discarded needles, and graffiti removal. The Abbey Ward was below average on these occurrences. An incident of building material being fly tipped into the Grand Union Canal resulted in the culprit being fined £1,500. Adrian explained that a new service had been provided in removing graffiti from Cable Boxes, with financial assistance from Virgin Media who own the boxes.
In response to a question Adrian explained that it was not possible to have the street sweeping after the bin collection. This was because there was only 4 days a week that bin collection took place, which then could not be matched with the street sweeping timetable.
Pest Control Services – Adrian stated that statistics showed that in the period between January and June 2008, Abbey Ward mostly had fewer problems with pests, than elsewhere in the city.
Dog Control Orders – A range of new powers were being introduced. For example, dogs would be restricted from certain areas such as children’s play areas and fines could be levied against irresponsible owners for not cleaning up mess.
In response to a question Adrian explained that this would be enforced through Dog, Park and City Wardens.
Noisy Neighbours – Information was presented on the services provided by the Noise Control Team, who supply a call-out service until 2.00am seven days a week.
SmileSafe Scheme – This was where businesses selling food and drink were inspected and given a rating of their hygiene. 29 businesses had been checked in the Abbey Ward, Adrian highlighted businesses which scored the best Crewey’s Kitchen,70 Burnham Drive, Wolsey House Primary School, Beaumont Leys Lane, Mowmacre Hill Primary School, Tedworth Green, Brucciani’s Bakery Delivery Van, 1-7 Bath Lane, and Abbey Park Tea Rooms, Abbey Park Road, and that scored the worst, Golden Wok, 27 Holderness Road.
Licensing – The Licensing Team was responsible for the granting of alcohol and other licenses. New rules had recently been brought in to restrict food vans outside schools to prevent bad eating habits from developing. Adrian explained that there was the provision for residents to bring premises to a hearing to review their alcohol license if there had been incidents breaching their license.
Building Control – Officers had been responsible for checking the safety of building projects, in Abbey this mainly related to house and retail premises extensions. Officers had also undertaken a great deal of work checking buildings in the aftermath of the earth tremor in February.
10,000 Trees Project – Adrian provided details of this project that intended to plant 10,000 trees in the city over the next three years. Residents were requested to put their suggestions forward for locations for the trees.
In response to questions Adrian explained;
· that there was an maintenance budget for existing trees and that any additional trees would be suitably positioned to limit maintenance.
· that grass boxes were no longer used when mowing due to the high cost.
· that the weed killers that were used were not residual, therefore they did not damage the environment.
Residents expressed concern over areas where vegetation was causing a problem. These where passed to the section concerned for action.
The Chair thanked Adrian for his presentation.