Agenda item

Craig Thorpe presented the report.

Cllr Beauchamp offered congratulations on the performance of the Splash Park staff, saying that he had received several comments from people saying how successful it had been and how good the staff were.

Cllr Wyatt Lowe said that she was delighted with our collaboration with the Friends of the Nicky Line and added that she hoped that anything we are doing is cross referenced with the various agencies that are involved with the Nicky Line to make sure that we are not duplicating efforts and what we do there is what the residents actually want.

Cllr Wyatt Lowe also mentioned new collection bins installed in Aragon Close in the flats, she said that they look like they are going to be a vast improvement and she asked if they had impacted on the way that the tenants were disposing of their rubbish.  Cllr also asked if Ward Councillors could be informed when something like the Nicky Line project or the new bins occurs so that, if there are any problems, they can communicate with the appropriate people.

C Thorpe replied that Housing actually put these bins in, but they do seem to be working. He agreed communication with the councillors would be good.

Cllr Timmis said that she was pleased to see the number of bedding plants added but would like to know how many trees were planted as with climate change we should be looking at this.

C Thorpe said that he had numbers for both trees that have been taken out and trees that have been planted and indeed the number planted is set to increase as a project has just started as a result of the climate emergency and as a direct wish of Cllr Williams to plant more trees as well as identifying areas of land where we can plant both quickly and sustainably over the next few years. 

Cllr Anderson said it is important to remember that we cannot just plant trees anywhere and everywhere.  It is down to individual landowners and the County Council and Highways are cautious of trees with roots which can damage tarmac etc, It takes a lot of work to find suitable planting for a thousand trees and that is what is happening at the moment.

Cllr Ransley asked if individual Ward Councillors can suggest where trees could be planted.

C Thorpe said he would be happy to look at any suggestions.

Cllr Birnie said that it has to be borne in mind that not only tarmac but also services run under the verges so it is not always easy to use those sites.

Cllr Timmis said that she noticed a number of fly tips had been cleared and she wondered what the cost of that was and also what we are doing to discourage them – she added that she had seen a Herts CC leaflet that goes out to every household urging people to ensure that, if they go to someone to dispose of their rubbish, they are registered.  Cllr Timmis suggested that warning notices in areas where fly-tipping occurs regularly, for example Flamstead, and brought along some examples of signs which Cllr Birnie suggested that she pass around at the end of the meeting.

E Walker said that there is already signage up in some places, and the leaflet went out with the council tax bills.

Cllr Anderson added that there is already a standard sign in use in the borough.

Cllr Riddick asked how many working cameras we have and whether we have been successful in catching anyone with the cameras.

E Walker replied that there are three cameras and they are moved around on a rota, she added that they have been successful in the past and they were also looking to update the technology as a lot of offenders are driving to areas without headlights so that the cameras cannot film them.

Cllr Barrett asked how often weed spraying and road cleaning was done as there seemed to be a lot of weeds etc on pavements and in gutters.

C Thorpe responded that we sweep every road on a rota basis of 5 to 6 weeks and the same rota for grass cutting.  He said that weed spraying was done by a contractor 3 times a year and he confirmed he would send Cllr Barrett the rota.

Cllr Beauchamp asked what the timescale was for the food recycling in flats being rolled out and he also asked a question regarding what a void garden clearance was.

C Thorpe answered that regarding the flat it would be the first week in October that the roll out started and it would be fully implemented by March next year.  He explained that a void garden was the garden of an empty house.

Cllr Taylor asked what the cost of running an individual camera was.

E Walker answered that they use an encrypted card which is viewed rather than CCTV and she was not sure of the individual cost.

Cllr Birnie said that he noticed that the dry recycling was down and he wondered why. 

C Thorpe said he would have to go through the tonnages individually and see what had dropped off – it can be affected by many things from football matches, meaning more cans and bottles, or the glass can sink to the bottom so more comes out in one month than another.

Cllr Birnie asked that if C Thorpe could find out the reason it is down quite significantly and confirm by email and C Thorpe agreed.

Cllr Riddick mentioned that he had asked for certain areas to be swept and that this had not happened yet. He asked for an indication of when this would happen, as he said it had not been done for several years.

C Thorpe replied he would find out when it was due to be done and pointed out that the County Council should be taking some responsibility when they mend the road and leave the chippings. Cllr Riddick said that he had tried going directly to County with no real result.

Cllr Stevens asked how tonnages were calculated and whether the trucks were weighed on the way in or out?

C Thorpe replied that the weight of the comingled recycling material is weighed as it comes into the depot and again when it is bulked out to the reprocessors…The weight shown is the outgoing weight. As the material from Dacorum was to be mixed with that from other Local Authorities before the start of the contract with Pearce Recycling DBC’s recycling material was sorted into its individual materials (plastics, paper, cans and glass etc) which resulted in a compositional analysis being agreed.

The report was noted.