Issue - meetings

S Coultas gave a presentation to the committee to update them on the work of the Clean, Safe and Green team.

At the end of February, the CSG team conducted the annual A41 litter pick. The cost of the traffic management was £750 per day per side of the A41. Alongside this cost, there are staff, transport and material costs and the litter pick requires 8 members of staff per side. This year, the team collected 10 tonnes of rubbish which was an improvement on last year’s 9 tonnes.

The challenges of this pick is booking the A41 in advance with Hertfordshire County Council, if there are roadworks or lighting that needs replacing then obviously the litter pick cannot happen and is considered low priority. Also, staff availability can be an issue. Only fully trained, experienced and permanent staff can do the litter pick due to the dangerous nature of the job so therefore agency staff are required to back fill the other jobs. Finally, a traffic survey must be conducted every morning and work can only begin once the volume of traffic is below a certain level. If the weather is poor, the traffic management is still conducted and paid for even if crews are not picking that day.

The Green Lane/Phoenix roundabout is to be enhanced in order to create a visual impact as this is a gateway into Hemel Hempstead. The planting will be orange and yellow to reflect the flames of Buncefield. Work has already started on the site, the crew have been spraying herbicide on the ground. However, they have found some cables for lighting underneath and so they must wait for the power supply to be isolated before the surface is dug up for planting. It is hoped the roundabout will be finished by June.

Dacorum now has four Green Flags for its parks. The three existing sites retained their flags. Tring Memorial was subject to a ‘mystery shop’ where inspectors turned up unannounced and the park received 75% and Chipperfield Park was also subject to an announced visit and received 74%. Berkhamsted Canal Fields was judged knowingly and received 69%. These are all very good scores. The fourth Green Flag was awarded to Bunkers Park and also received 69%. The judges declared it “a hidden gem and full of character”.

The team have planted 600sqm of wild flowers in Heath Park and completed a new path layout. Clean, Safe and Green have been working closely with the Regeneration team to create this new space.

The new Town Centre team are working well; there are three members of staff plus a supervisor and team leader. They work staggered shifts to ensure the Town Centre is covered all day. They have a new electric vehicle for collecting bin rubbish which reduces noise and pollution.

The Clean, Safe and Green team are also working closely with the Regeneration team to complete the Water Gardens.

The bench replacement scheme has had £20,000 funding approved which means there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79