Agenda item

Consideration was given to a report responding to a request for information on the current approach to litter bin provision and servicing within the Borough.

The Council’s Head of Operations, Roger Tait drew Members’ attention to paragraph 2 of the report which outlined the number and locations of dog waste and litter bins around the Borough and also the frequency at which the bins were emptied.

Operatives were encouraged to feed back if a bin was getting full and therefore the frequency of emptying needed to be adapted.

Members were advised that bagged dog waste could now be put into ordinary litter bins which helped to reduce the pressure on dog waste bins in parks and open spaces.  In addition, dual waste bins were being considered with two separate compartments for litter and dog waste which would also help in terms of operational emptying.

Bins can be paid for through sponsorship and they were sometimes paid for through businesses and Parish Councils where it could be agreed for the Council to empty bins on land not in the Council’s ownership.

Five operatives were fully deployed on litter bin emptying, four of whom go around in the caged vehicles and one operative who was based permanently in the town centre with an electric cart.  There was no capacity to add any more bins for emptying, to the workload, at present.

When the Council receives a request for new bins, residents or businesses were worked with to see if existing bins could be moved around to solve the problem.  Most of the time, this approach was successful.

A full scale review had been considered, but this would cost in the region of £26,000 and at present, feedback would suggest that there would be no business case to justify doing that.

A couple of pilot studies had been done in the area to test how many bins were out there and this was compared to the average number across the Borough and a comparison had been done with other areas as outlined on page 12 of the agenda. Newcastle compared well with its family group.

A couple of issues had been raised around the future demand created by new developments in the Borough.  If a new development came along that had to provide public open space or a play area, colleagues in the Planning Department would be worked with to try and secure a Section 106 Agreement or a Planning Obligation whereby the developer would provide that facility and also provide litter bins if needed.

It was recommended to Members to continue with this current approach, keeping it under review and if a bigger demand arose in the future it could be at that point, Members would be approached to advise that more resource needs to be put into this or more bins provided.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Efficiency, Councillor Sweeney made reference to the Cambridge Drive shops in Clayton.  As the Ward Councillor, if problems arose, Roger Tait or his team were contacted and the problem would be sorted. 

Councillor Reddish asked about the Section 106 Agreements where litter and dog bins were requested. Could this be done retrospectively on large estates which were already built and populated that had problems with dog fouling and litter.  Councillor Reddish was under the impression that because it had not been adopted for eight years or more, the Council could not do that. Could this be clarified?

Roger Tait explained that Section 106 Agreements were not to secure litter bins but to secure public open space and play facilities and if bins were appropriate that would be included in the brief to the developer.

Councillor Reddish referred to an estate with 3-400 houses with no litter or dog bins and how could that be rectified?

Roger Tait stated that once adopted, the Council could see if litter bins should have been provided.  If this was the case, they can be insisted to be put in on play areas or public open space but they are not usually provided within the residential areas.

The Chair stated that he had similar concerns in that, when the Local Plan is looked at and the substantial number of new homes that needed to come into the Borough over the next twenty years was considered, to say that the Council - which was already at capacity and could not accept any new bins, would not work.

Given that the issue had already been raised by Councillor Reddish, would it be appropriate for this Committee to ask that Roger Tait, along with the Head of Planning and Development, Shawn Fleet look at any mechanisms that could be used in future developments.

Roger Tait stated that the Planning Department was already worked with where it was appropriate and open space was being secured.  Regarding future development, where some of the larger developments were looked at, that was not actually increasing the pressure on the bin stock.  Operationally, bins may be moved around where demand increases.

The Chair did not feel that this approach was addressing the concerns raised this evening in respect of future housing developments and that was where the Committee was looking for an official mechanism to be looked at and put into place, not simply working together but an actual mechanism put into place.

The Head of Planning and Development, Shawn Fleet stated that the Local Plan had a section on commuted sums and obligations which included play spaces and affordable housing but the document could look to be revised.  As Roger Tait had said, it was generally around open spaces where littering occurred and where demand arose.  However, the obligations and leverage applied to developers could be looked at and ask for monies to provide bins.  However, viability has to be considered as there had to be a cut-off point in asking a developer to provide various facilities.  This was looked at on an application by application basis.

The Chair stated that the Committee would like this extended and a review done so that it was not just about open spaces and play areas but also about where large developments were going to be put in place.  The Chair asked that Roger Tait and Shawn Fleet work together to come up with a solution that would accommodate this and bring it back to this Committee at an appropriate time.

The Chair also raised the issue of communication and how it could be improved, for example, people of the Borough were not aware that bagged dog faeces could be placed into the ordinary bins.  The Chair gave the example of the Recycling Team who, this Committee made the recommendation that they had their own Facebook page to notify and communicate with residents and maybe this could also be applied to Streetscene.

Roger Tait confirmed that they had a twitter feed and ‘green team’ where work around the Borough was posted so messaging could be put out on there and stickers could be put onto bins to explain what waste can be put into them.   

The Chair asked if there was a mechanism where the twitter feed could be linked to Facebook.  Roger Tait would ask the Communications team if this was possible.

Councillor Jenny Cooper echoed what the Chair had said about communication in that services had been affected throughout lockdown, for example food waste collections stopping and starting up again.  People don’t always get the information straight away.

Resolved:     (i)         That the information be received and the comments noted.

(ii)        That the Head of Operations and the Head of Planning and Development work together to find a mechanism which can be put into place in considering the provision of litter and dog bins when a new residential development was proposed or an application submitted.

(iii)       That the Head of Operations work with the Communications Team in setting up a Streetscene Facebook page that residents of the Borough could refer to.