Executive Member Report to Council

Executive Member Report to Council

15 October 2008

Recycling and Refuse Collection

The introduction and implementation of a completely new 'Waste and Recycling Service', which is based on a four day working week and is focused on a high quality of service delivery and customer care, has gone extremely well.

Over 65,000 properties had their refuse collection day changed. Green waste and recycling arrangements were aligned so that collections occur on the same day as refuse collection but on alternative weeks.

The evidence so far is that both recycling and green waste participation rates have increased, in particular green waste has seen a significant growth. This increase has led to minor interruptions in the green waste collection system, with some properties not being collected on their allocated days. However, this has been limited in scope and will be rectified.

To assist staff in their transition to this new service, a bespoke, comprehensive five day training course has been designed and delivered, specifically around those issues of service quality and customer care, which are fundamental to their new roles.

These courses have taken place on Mondays to take advantage of the four-day working week that was implemented on 2nd September. They have been very well received by staff who, due to their previous working arrangements, have had minimal investment in training or development in the past.

Staff should now be better equipped to deliver the new service, more aware of the importance of their role to the customer, the Council, and Members, and will also now start to benefit from the four day working week. This significant change could not have been achieved without the hard work and dedication of front line refuse collection staff and the staff who work in the Contact Centre.

Chewing Gum Campaign

Middlesbrough Council is one of 15 local authorities that successfully applied for government funding to run a poster campaign to reduce chewing gum litter.

The campaign began on 22nd September and ran for four weeks focussing on the town centre where posters were on display as well as on the sides and back of buses, bus shelters and telephone boxes. The posters were aimed at catching the attention of ‘gum chewers’ and encourage them to put their used gum in litter bins. Ten sites were monitored in the town centre to evaluate the effects of the campaign. The Council has produced ‘gum wraps’ which are available free from pubs, clubs, newsagents and council leisure facilities across the town.

Gum wraps are slips of recycled paper, contained in a small card wallet that people can place their gum in when they have finished with it. So if they are in a place where there are no bins nearby, they can keep it safely wrapped until they are able to dispose of it later.

The launch of the campaign with Middlesbrough Football Club and a "ball " of chewing gum made by children from Newport Primary School took place on Monday, 29th September. We attended the University student welcome fayre to advertise our campaign and advertising was on the "this is football" website. A competition in association with the football club to design a new chewing gum wrap was launched with a prize of a signed Middlesbrough Football shirt.

Parks

Police Liaison Officer - Events in Parks

Various visits to Stewart, Albert and Pallister Parks have been made by several junior schools through out Middlesbrough as arranged by the Police Liaison Officer. The purpose is encouraging positive use of our parks and good contact with the Park Rangers. Their slogan is

"Enjoy - not - Destroy"

Activities included:

-  looking at damage, litter and graffiti in parks and discussing why anyone would want to carry out this damage, repair costs etc

-  feeding the animals at Stewart Park

-  orienteering and tree trails

All activities are written up when the children get back into the classroom. Due to the success of the scheme further visits will take place - probably including a full day event.

Heritage Open Days – Stewart Park

Guided walks were arranged at Stewart Park, which included the depot area, walled gardens, nursery and the stable yard buildings. These were arranged over a four day period, and despite poor weather over 60 people attended.

Newham Grange Leisure Farm

Officers are currently working towards an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, and other funders in order to bring back into use the derelict Georgian Farmhouse. Links to education, healthy eating and urban farming are all being investigated.

Staff from the farm attended the Skipton Rare Breeds Show and Sale in September. A Whitefaced Woodland sheep won "Best in Breed" and "Supreme Champion".

Pallister Park Centre Kickz Re-launch night

Middlesbrough Football Club's Kickz project had a re-launch night at Pallister Park to encourage young children aged 11-18 to sign up to the scheme. The night consisted of football coaching, mobile climbing walls, superstar challenge and various competitions. Stuart Downing came along to open up the night. An estimated 65 children signed up to the scheme which will run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at Pallister Park 6.00pm-8.00pm.

Fairy Dell Celebration

The annual Fairy Dell Celebration event was held on the 13th September, the event took place to celebrate and promote Fairy Dell and the Park. It is organised by the Friends of Fairy Dell and Middlesbrough Council and is an opportunity to recruit new friends and also increase local interest in the site.

This year's event was attended by about 250 people and a good time was had by all. There were a variety of craft stalls and activities for children including a face painter, magician, dog warden, fire service, samba band etc.

Albert Park

Bat Night Event

Despite heavy rain, this event, which was arranged in collaboration with Tees Valley Wildlife on 2nd September, was well attended.

Heritage Open Days

Roller skating and guided historical walks around Albert Park were free of charge to visitors on 14th September as part of Middlesbrough Council's programme of Heritage Open Day events.

Environmental Action Teams (Allotments and Countryside)

Three newly formed action teams are now fully up and running and are carrying out a wide range of tasks in many areas of the town. Each team has a supervisor with a number of operatives, including volunteers from Kirklevington Young Offenders Institute, youngsters from E2E and one apprentice, soon to be joined by three other apprentices and youngsters from the Ashdale Centre.

The three separate teams with their own transport and horticultural machinery, including small tractor with plough, grass cutter and rotovator are currently undertaking work at the following allotment sites, Town Farm, White House, Saltersgill and Beechwood. Work includes the demolition of derelict structures, clearance of neglected plots and getting them ready for new allotment tenants, of which there are a substantial number now on the waiting list for all sites. To date approximately 40 derelict plots have been renovated by the Action Teams for new tenants.

In addition to work on the allotment sites the teams also carry out a wide range of one off tasks associated with helping to keep some of the green areas of the town such as Fairy Dell, Berwick Hills Nature Reserve and Low Lane in good condition, acting in some respects as a quick response unit to cover problems associated with Allotments and Countryside matters.

Assisting the Action Teams in carrying out their work is NHS (Mental Health) and Community Pay Back who are based at Town Farm for several days per week these two organisations have carried a substantial amount of site clearance work over the last month or so and have made a considerable difference to the condition of this particular site.

Weed Control

There have been significant problems with weed control across the town this year. This has been caused by a change in legislation, which has prohibited the use of certain chemical applications that have been used in the past. The situation has been compounded by the weather as chemicals can only be applied in dry conditions and it has rained or been wet on over 50% of the available days for application. Staff have worked overtime on the available dry days in order to complete the programme. As a result of the problems experienced this year, officers are preparing a report for Executive consideration that will suggest changes to methods of operation next year, based on current industry best practice and taking into account further pending changes in legislation.

Councillor Paul Thompson

Executive Member for Streetscene

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