Agenda and draft minutes

To receive the notes of the meeting held on 9^th May 2018.

The notes of the meeting held 9^th May 2018 were received.

The Head of Waste, Street Scene and Fleet provided the Group with an update on workload balancing and the new bin collection service.

When the new collection rounds were formulated it emerged that the two small collection vehicles which serviced the isolated properties in the District did not have the capacity to cover the District in terms of time. The service was being covered for the residents, however a number of properties would undergo some changes to their collection service.

224 isolated properties would be effected by a change to their collection point. This had already been approved by Cabinet. The affected residents would be contacted and the Council would correspond with those to answer any questions or concerns.

Changes would also be made to the collection service affecting around another 1000 properties across the District, these would now transfer off the small capacity vehicles and would be serviced by a larger vehicle from the new fleet, as the new rear loaders did not face the same operation restrictions that the old side loaders did.

Assistance with collections would be provided to those residents in need, i.e. the elderly. 

The Cabinet Member insisted that these changes should be rolled out sensitively and legitimate concerns raised by residents would be recognised.  An appeals process would be available to those 224 isolated properties, where their collection points would change.

Some Members of the PDAG insisted on equal treatment of residents in terms of their bin collection service despite the proximity of their property to the public highway and suggested that collecting bins from long private driveways was not an financially prudent.  

Other waste updates included the recycling service, the officer was pleased to report an increase in recycling rates since the introduction of the new collection service, Members were reminded that the service was still in its early days but the PDAG welcomed the fact that Horsham was currently the only authority likely to achieve the national recycling target.

Further communication would be sent out to remind residents to position their bins correctly, this would accompany explanatory information on the reason for the changes.

Members noted that perspex sided waste bins were being used in communal recycling collection areas to promote recycling rates in those areas, so far this scheme had been successful.

The Cabinet Member would be doing a publicity exercise on fly tipping. This would take place in Carfax in the town centre and would warn people of their liability when using a waste collection service without a waste carrier licence.

The PDAG agreed that a tour of the MBT plant and the waste transfer site in Langhurstwood Road should take place for the new intake of Councillors, as this was considered a useful and informative exercise.

To note the Forward Plan extract (if any) for the Waste, Recycling and Cleansing Portfolio

There were no relevant tems on the Forward Plan.