To receive a verbal update from the Area Managers from Technical Services and Neighbourhood Services in attendance about any key recent, ongoing and/or future planned Local Services work for the attention of members of the Local Area Council, who will also then have the opportunity to raise issues with the Area Managers.
The Area Managers have principal responsibility for highway services and environmental services, such as refuse collection, street cleansing and grounds maintenance, within the geographic boundaries of the Local Area Council.
Minutes:
Members received the following updates and explanation of the impact of Covid-19 on front line services from Tony Gribbin, Neighbourhood Services Area Manager:
Waste Service:
· Following lockdown, there had been an increase of domestic waste. This had reduced slightly but had not returned to pre lockdown levels.
· Residual and recycling waste collection continued to perform well but the increase of new builds was a concern. This was currently under review.
· Garden waste had seen an increase in subscriptions and housing developments continued to place additional demands on the waste service
· Perfect growing conditions also increased the weight of grass cuttings in the bins collected
· As usual a garden waste service review would be undertaken at the end of the season to look for efficiencies.
· There were 569 new customers so far this year and a total of 9918 customers up to date.
Grass Cutting:
· Now on cut between 7/8. Grass cutting proved to be a significant challenge in the early part of the year
· A long period of rain was experienced in May followed by very warm weather with the grass growing rapidly
· This presented two challenges, the first was to complete cutting rounds efficiently to avoid having long grass on view. The second was the inevitable grass arisings left following the cut of grass which was longer than usual.
· Both situations meant that standards weren’t as high as usual for the month of June
· Standards had stabilized and grass was returning to normal standards
Weed Control:
· The service was being delivered in house again this year
· This year had seen an unprecedented growth in the grass and weeds as a whole
· The in-house approach had worked well in previous years and was being adopted again for this round
· Weed control was slightly behind this year and weather conditions above had also affected weed growth which created another challenge
· All areas had received their first treatments on the first pass and weeds were already starting to show in the areas completed in May/June
· The commencement of the second treatment was being reviewed to start earlier and it was likely that a third treatment may be undertaken in more stubborn areas
· Teams had been using new weed rippers to remove more stubborn areas along with pedestrian sweepers.
· There were some issues with Japanese knotweed which were being addressed and more staff being trained in treating Japanese knotweed
Glyphosate alternative trial:
· Trials of alternative products was underway county wide in chose locations
· Results would be analysed and products would either be considered for use in future or, excluded on the grounds of poor performance or prohibitive costs
· The following alternative methods were being trialed:
o Walk behind ripper brush
o Nonanoic acid (Enclean) – a colourless oily liquid with an unpleasant smell
o Pelargonic acid – which caused extremely rapid and non-selective burn down of green tissues and exhibit damage within 15-60 minutes of application
o Burning with lance
o Hot foam
o Nomix Dual (glyphosate based)
· A formal report would be produced at the end of the trial with findings
Bereavement Services
· The pandemic had also been a challenging time for teams across the area, working with the most challenging conditions
· The lockdown restrictions have meant huge professional and personal challenges for each team member, particularly working with bereaved families and reduced capacity in chapels and funeral directors
· There had been an increase in cremations in the months after lockdown and the whole team had risen to the challenge and performed magnificently. Thankfully, these had lowered to near normal figures
· Restrictions had been removed in the number attending funerals however, those poses challenges and facilities still required cleaning between services to ensure the health, welfare and safety of attendees and staff.
Glass Trial:
· This was ongoing in the Bedlington area and to date 58.7 tonne had been collected throughout the 4 month trial. The area total was 216.20 tonne.
Members asked a number of questions including:-
· Could a pack with ‘Who’s Who’ on each service be circulated to members?
· Had the recent foliage growth meant that the Council had missed an opportunity from a carbon neutral aspect. Does this need to be reviewed and how often?
· A problem of Japanese knotweed in Bedlington on Bernicia land
· The rolling out of glass recycling
· Removal of the soil heap in Bedlington
· Why litter picking in Cramlington had ceased and also the refusal for the request of an additional litter bin
· Could the advertising boards at the roundabout at the top of the avenue in Seaton Delaval be removed
· The significant residue after grass cutting
· Incomplete grass cutting at Lamb Street, Cramlington
· Grass cutting in the nature reserve at the rear
· Weed treatment/strimming in Allendale
Mr Gribbin reported as follows:
· The ‘Who’s Who’ pack would be requested from the relevant service
· The recent problem with foliage growth would be forwarded to the relevant person
· Contact information for Bernicia would be forwarded
· The information regarding the glass recycling would be forward to the relevant officer
· The removal of the soil heap would be forwarded to the relevant team
· A response to the query regarding litter picking would follow and Cramlington Town Council would also be contacted regarding the litter bin
· The question of the removal of advertising boards would be forwarded to Street Works
· The problem with residue grass cutting had been explained previously to the committee
· Councillor Lee would be contacted regarding the grass cutting in Lamb Street
· The Senior Countryside and Green Spaces Officer had previously responded to the query regarding the grass cutting at the nature reserve
· Mr Gribbin would inspect the weed treatment/strimming in Allendale and action this
In the absence of the Highways Area Manager, Mr Gribbin provided an updated as follows:
The gully emptier was fully deployed dealing with reported issues and cyclic maintenance.
Larger tarmac patching had been carried out in the following locations:
Drainage Improvements
Tarmac Resurfacing Work
Microsurfacing Preparation Work
Bridge Refurbishment
The A189 Klondyke Bridge will be undergoing concrete repairs and waterproofing during the school holidays week commencing 19 July. The works would be carried out under contraflow. Three weeks north bound and four weeks south bound. Advance signage and communications would be carried out in advance.
Any questions from members could be emailed to Democratic Services for onward transmission to the relevant department.
Thanks were conveyed to officers for all their hard work throughout the difficult challenges.
RESOLVED that the information be noted and issues set out in the bullet points above be followed up.