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:
Highways
M King, Highway Delivery Area Manager was in attendance to provide an update to Members and answer any questions. Members were advised that social guidelines in respect of Covid were continuing to be followed. The Highways Engineers post had now been filled with Lee Dundas stepping up. Routine inspections were continuing with the backlog reducing. Reactive third party reports have continued to increase with extra officer resource allocated, however the forecast September date for completion had been missed. The reason for the increase in reports would be investigated. The routine gulley programme was continuing and some progress had been made with the backlog with a review of the routes and frequency currently being undertaken. A full list of schemes would be circulated after the meeting. Agreement to fill all vacant posts within the team had been given.
In responses to comments from Members, P Jones, Service Director advised that there was a large highways programme ongoing and resources had been provided. Gully tankers were to be replaced with larger capacity tankers which would improve gully cleansing in areas where this was needed. Traffic Management would need to be put in to allow the cleaning of the middle of the A197 road outside County Hall. A discussion would be held outside the meeting with Councillor Dodd regarding the A69 slip road roundabout between Ponteland and Throckley.
Neighbourhood Services
P Lowes, Neighbourhood Services Area Manager provided an update to the Committee advising that there remained a high demand for garden and bulky waste with targets being exceeded. Grass cutting was on target and street sweeping would be targeting leaf hot spots shortly with Members asked to notify of any problem areas. Preparations were commencing for winter works and he would welcome any feedback on areas which Members felt need to be looked at. The weed killing trial was coming to an end and a report would be provided on the results in November and be shared with Members. All verge cutting targets had been achieved. It was hoped that assisted bulk collection would be able to be reinstated.
An update would be provided to the Communities and Place OSC and Cabinet in October on the glass collection trial. It had been expected that there would be a drop in the levels at take your own collection sites, however these had gone up 22% during Covid which had skewed the results of the trial. The trial had been very successful and had been welcomed however its continuation and potential for roll out to other areas was very much dependent on Government funding.
Morpeth Town Centre was swept on a regular basis however it had been the larger sweeper that had been used recently which was unable to go onto paths and they would look to use the mini-sweeper as well. Councillor Beynon highlighted that years ago business proprietors swept footpaths outside their own premises which had helped with the appearance of the town centre. Members highlighted issues with weeds with some areas looking neglected. It was clarified that this was not as a result of trials of alternative weed killing methods as that had been undertaken in specific areas, but was the result of the recent weather and it might be that the programme would need adapting to meet challenges in the future. Councillor Murphy highlighted that weeds provided essential food for bees and it might be that unless areas were unsafe that weeds should be considered as part of the biodiversity of areas. The Service Director advised that due to constraints chemicals could not be used to prevent weeds growing and therefore they needed to grow before they could be treated and it was possible a trial of a mechanical removal could be undertaken in the future.
Contact would be made with Councillor Jones outside of the meeting to discuss the tree programme.