The Chair made it clear that any questions on this topic should relate to borough-wide issues only.
Tom Lawrence (Service Manager) gave an update on waste management:
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Veolia street cleaning on weekly basis.
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Inspected after swept
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Grade A shows street with no refuse
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Grade B - street predominantly free apart from some small items
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Grade C - distribution of litter
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Grade D - street with extreme accumulation of litter
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90% of streets/relevant land must meet Grade B spec.
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Achieved but lower for estates.
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Increasing work in estates to bring up to same standard
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Capital investment of £1.3m inc 4 mechanical sweepers - making a big difference
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More joint working with housing and contract monitoring team
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SLWP - KPR different - frequency based system. Monitoring at time of sweep but only again at next sweep. New contract - spec based - streets will not fall below Grade B at any time.
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Will ensure more robust response
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Where street below Grade B and reported - 24 hour turnaround
The following issues were raised:
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Who is reporting whether Grade A, B, C?
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Is there resident involvement in monitoring currently and in new contract next year?
Tom Lawrence: The national standard was put together by Keep Britain Tidy. All inspections are done by Veolia and Council Officers - approx. 200 every month. Assessments are made on site. We will go out on site with residents. We don't want a reactive service - we have to get on the front foot.
Chris Stock: There are 17 neighbourhood voices - they go out and look at street sweeping regularly.
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Why is the standard only 90%, not 100?
Tom Lawrence: The KPI (Key Performance Indicator) has to have some tolerance. The aim is 100%. Currently we are achieving well above the 90% target.
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We do not see much litter picking and street sweeping. An increase in litter picking and bin collection will reduce problem.
Tom Lawrence: There are 18 beats for estates, involving litter picking, sweeping, moss removal, weed removal etc. With the new contract it will go up to 20 members of staff. Standards will change to not falling below Grade B at any time. Inspections - we will include your estate in it.
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On estates is it grassed areas only? The only do front areas but leave back areas - it has to be reported.
Tom Lawrence: It should be any areas. We get the same crews back to those areas where they have not done a good job, so they learn to do better next time.
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Why not work with the grass cutters so they pick up litter before cutting the grass?
Tom Lawrence: Litter picking is timed around when the grass cutters are on the estates. Quadron (grass cutting) are responsible for removing litter, so it should not be an issue. If it is not done, please let us know.
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The root of problem is people - there has to be responsibility taken by individuals. Litter gets clogged up along the road in the grass - residents remove it themselves. When waste paper bins are collected, litter gets dropped and it collects.
Tom Lawrence: A lot of education work is being done through the Don't Mess with Croydon team, landlords etc. We are making sure facilities are supplied which are suitable for the housing type.
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Suggestion - we need bins wherever people are - why not have a scheme where, in certain areas (Grade C and D), you put public bins?
Tom Lawrence: We need to ensure the capacity is suitable for the footfall of the area. Landlords are making sure new tenants are aware of how things are recycled etc. We target hot spot areas of littering. It is unacceptable for litter to be left behind after refuse collection. 4 full time officers look at standards all around the borough.
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It is a shame that, for the past 2 years we are still talking about litter. We should expect 100%. If something is wrong, the Council is finally responsible. Housing officers should take responsibility.
Tom Lawrence: Our aim is to achieve 100% at all times. Work with Don't Mess with Croydon goes on. It is a constant battle. Education of school children is vital. No one size fits all.
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Orange bags - In what timeframe should they be collected once when left by road?
Tom Lawrence: They are left in strategic places to be picked up. Additional resource should ensure all bags are collected on the scheduled day of the sweep. If left, it is rectified quickly.
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There is concern about takeaway foodshops and schools - piles of empty cartons, wrappers etc. left otside. There should be concentration educating users of foodshops, particularly school children.
Tom Lawrence: There is work being done to ensure bins are located in the correct places. Education work is going on. Officers are going to schools to encourage better recycling. Activities are organised during summer months when out of school - getting school children involved in community clean ups. Where we are aware of issues with takeaways, the Council serves notices on these properties and enforcement officers follow up.
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Electronic bins - what is the cost? Sensors inside to detect when they are full but no one is using them.
Tom Lawrence: Those are the big bay solar compacting bins - have compaction up to 8 times and are much more efficient. They send an electronic message to crews when they get 80-90% full. It makes operation more efficient.
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Pathway cleaning on estates - when will it be implemented? On New Addington estate there is no litter picking. Quadron cut the grass with whatever is on it. When Veolia empty the bins, they do not pick up what is dropped and there is fly tipping.
Tom: Inspections and meetings, continuous performance improvement plans will take time. It is a matter of getting estates up to the same standard. Collections are not being done correctly which adds to the problem. We want to make sure bins are being locked properly. We will continue to go in and inspect and arrange monitoring. We will be happy to meet you on site.
