Question from Councillor Martin Smith
I think we will all agree that tackling the increasing problem of litter across the Borough should be one of the priorities of the Council. This problem is addressed by both our own staff and in some areas local volunteers. Good examples of this are the Ravenshead Litter Force group, who regularly meet to clear the grass verges surrounding the village, and the young people of Newstead village who organised a litter pick as part of their summer holiday play scheme. I am sure that fellow councillors will be aware of other similar initiatives.
Money was allocated in this year’s budget for an extra 50 rubbish bins across the Borough. An action most welcomed. In October, councillors were asked by the Leader of the Council to nominate possible sites within their own Ward, where these bins could be placed. Three months later, no action appears to have been taken. Please could the Leader give an update as to when these new bins will be installed and also indicate if they will be fairly distributed across urban and rural areas of the Borough.
Minutes:
Question received from Councillor Martin Smith
New Litter Bins
“I think we all agree that tackling the increasing problem of litter across the Borough should be one of the priorities of the Council. This problem is addressed by both our own staff and in some areas local volunteers. Good examples of this are the Ravenshead Litter Force group, who regularly meet to clear the grass verges surrounding the village, and the young people of Newstead village who organised a litter pick as part of their summer holiday play scheme. I am sure that fellow councillors will be aware of other similar initiatives.
Money was allocated in this year’s budget for an extra 50 rubbish bins across the Borough. An action most welcomed. In October, councillors were asked by the Leader of the Council to nominate possible sites within their own Ward, where these bins could be placed. Three months later, no action appears to have been taken. Please could the Leader give an update as to when these new bins will be installed and also indicate if they will be fairly distributed across urban and rural areas of the Borough.”
Response from the Deputy Leader, Councillor Payne, on behalf of the Leader of the Council.
“Madame Mayor, this Leadership considers it to be vitally important that we work to reduce the levels of litter on our streets and roads, and in our town and local centres.
In response to the question asked by Councillor Smith, I can confirm that in excess of 50 requests for new litter bins have been received from Members of all political parties across the borough, and council officers are currently visiting these suggested locations and technically assessing these sites for suitability.
Interestingly I note that we have not received any requests for Newstead Abbey, which is your ward Councillor Smith.
You may think that three months is a long time, but installing new bins is not as straight forward as you may think:
Madame Mayor, can I make it absolutely clear that this Leadership is committed to delivering on all of the bin requests, subject to this criteria being met, and that officers have already started a programme of new bin installation across the borough in both urban and rural areas. So far we have installed 38 bins in the suggested locations with another 12 sites under review.”
In response to an additional comment from Councillor Martin Smith, the Deputy Leader confirmed that a list of locations would be circulated to Members following the meeting.
Councillor Lawrence joined the meeting at 6.17pm