Issue - meetings

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling and Cleansing

RESOLVED

(i)            That Cabinet agree Phase 2 of the revised collection points for properties serviced by small capacity vehicles as set out in appendix 1.

(ii)          That the Director of Community Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling, be authorised to agree and implement further phases of isolated property collections.

The Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling and Cleansing presented the report to adopt Phase 2 of the programme for waste and recycling collections from isolated access properties, in order to reduce expenditure and enable further efficiencies.

It was noted that there would be a 28 day consultation period to give the 200 affected property owners an opportunity to respond to the proposals. The Council would write to the residents with details of the proposals and the new designated place for collection of their refuse. Support and assistance would be provided to those who met the criteria.

Phase 1 of the programme had been successful.

The Waste, Recycling and Cleansing Policy Development Advisory Group had considered the proposal.

RESOLVED

(i)         That Phase 2 of the revised collection points for properties serviced by small capacity vehicles be approved as reported.

(ii)        That the Director of Community Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling, be authorised to agree and implement further phases of isolated property collections.

REASON

The service provided by small 12 tonne collection vehicles costs the Council over three times more than a service provided by a 26 tonne collection vehicle. Collections from remote properties increase the exposure of our refuse crews to challenging vehicle manoeuvres onto the highway. In addition, third party claims are made against the Council for damage to property (grassed lawns, paving damage, trees etc) due to restricted access and manoeuvring arrangements.

The Head of Waste, Recycling, Street Scene & Fleet Services explained that Cabinet had previously approved the implementation of Phase 1 at its meeting in July 2016. Phase 1 primarily focused on properties with unmade tracks and electrical gated access arrangements. This phase was implemented over the summer and was generally well received. The second phase proposed an additional 200 properties across the district. This would enable further efficiencies to be made to the service and remove driving risks by re-designating collection points at the public highway. Those properties would be serviced by either 15/16 tonne or 26 tonne refuse vehicles.

Where appropriate, Ward Councillors had been informed of the number of properties in their Ward that were likely to be affected by these proposals. Letters would be issued to each of the affected properties informing them of the changes and allowing owner/occupiers a reasonable time (28 days) to discuss the proposed changes.

It was proposed that further phases would be implemented over the next 3 years, with around 1,200 properties being subject to future phases as identified during the initial phase of the recent collection round route optimisation review. The total efficiency savings for 1,200 properties would be approximately £190k over an estimated 3 year period.

Members were reminded that an exceptions policy existed for those residents that needed it, and that the Cabinet report would seek to delegate the remaining phases to the Director of Community Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling to implement.