Agenda item

a)       Joint Report of Assistant Chief Executive and Corporate Director of Neighbourhood Services.

b)       Presentation by Oliver Sherratt, Head of Direct Services.

The Committee considered the joint report of the Assistant Chief Executive and Corporate Director Neighbourhood Services which provided members with proposals to harmonise the Council’s refuse and recycling collection policy relating to properties situated on private unadopted lanes and farm tracks across the county (for copy of report, see file of minutes).

Mr O Sherratt, Head of Direct Services and Mr K Parkinson, Refuse and Recycling Manager gave a presentation that provided Members with details of the current position, the need to consider change, benchmarking with other authorities, consultation with affected properties, safeguards that would be built into policy and the next steps (for copy of slides, see file of minutes).

Councillor May sought clarification if Members had been provided with details of the properties which were part of the consultation. The Officer responded that this information had been provided to Members where requested but it was a large spreadsheet and in some areas very few properties would be affected but he was happy to supply the information.

Councillor Armstrong indicated that he had two unadopted roads in his area and asked that members be consulted in particular those in semi-rural areas and that he was pleased that measures were in place for safeguarding. The Officer responded that numbers could reduce following the consultation.

Councillor Jewell commented that bins located at lane ends could cause unofficial fly tipping. The Officer responded that they had identified vulnerable properties which had a lane but were in built up areas which meant that lane end collection was not considered suitable. Other authorities who have this policy have indicated that fly tipping was not an issue but this would be monitored.

Councillor Jewell sought clarification if there would be an increase in the number of assisted collections under the new policy. The Officer responded that the increase would only be from those properties which were accessed by lanes, a site visit would be undertaken and an assessment made if they were vulnerable then nothing would change and the collection would be made as before.

Councillor E Bell sought clarification on how this would impact of the fleet. The Officer responded that some smaller refuse vehicles would no longer be needed and any redundancies would be on a voluntary basis rather than compulsory.

Councillor Liversidge sought clarification if they would be consulting properties that were at the end of the lane. The Officer responded that they would be consulting in every instance and that they were aware that some people were not happy, but the process would be managed sensibly.

Councillor Armstrong asked what would be the next steps. The Officer responded that the outcome of the consultation would be reported to Cabinet.

The Chairman indicated that people don’t like change but they needed to harmonise the service which was the reason for the consultation but all aspects appeared to be covered. She asked that members be kept informed of what was happening in their area.

Councillor Armstrong on behalf of the committee congratulated Mr O Sherratt on his recent promotion and wished the team all the best.

Resolved: That the report and presentation be noted.