Agenda item

Ms S Dillon asked the following question:

“There is an accumulation of debris - soil and vegetation - along the pavements and the gutters of the road all through many areas of the District and in particular Coleorton.  Some pavements are made very narrow as a consequence. Plants and even young saplings are growing in this accumulation. Cycling is more hazardous, with the need to avoid debris often unrecognised by vehicle drivers and there is a greater risk of punctures.  At times of high rainfall some of the debris gets washed into the sewers and increases the chances of blockage and flooding.

I have contacted the street cleaning department and they have said that they have a 13 week schedule for Coleorton, a rural area, however this is not maintained due to staff shortages and machinery failure. There are pathways and gutters that have not been swept for over a year.

Many local policies have national and international influences and insufficient streeting cleaning and maintenance seems to be a policy held more broadly than within the area of Leicestershire. However, poor street maintenance is inconsistent with many other notable policies surrounding environment, resilience and planning, which often cite desires to promote modes of active transport and improve resilience to weather events such as flooding.

On the NWLDC website, the opening two lines on the Street Cleaning Programme page make uncomfortable reading as residents do notice the absence of the street cleaning team and they raise the question:

Is the 13 person and 10 vehicle team properly functioning and sufficient for the tasks they need to do?”

The response of the Communities and Climate Change Portfolio Holder was as follows:

“Leicestershire County Council is responsible for the maintenance of the highways in the county including the removal of soil and vegetation that may obstruct the proper use of the highway. The District Council carries out cleansing duties that remove roadside litter and leaves and the sweeping schedule is published on the website at the following link:

Street cleaning programme - North West Leicestershire District Council (nwleics.gov.uk)

The street cleansing team is adequately staffed and the vehicles that are operated are sufficient for the work that the team carries out.

To report a problem to Leicestershire County Council Road Maintenance please follow the below link or call 0116 305 0001

Road maintenance | Leicestershire County Council

The district council does have an online “report it” function if there is a particular street cleansing location to which Ms Dillon is welcome to access.

https://www.nwleics.gov.uk/pages/report”

Ms Dillon suggested that Highway Maintenance had many subdivisions and an uncoordinated approach to tackling the problem, meanwhile street cleaning was a district responsibility, and she felt that the Council had not been adequately carrying this out. So, as a supplementary question, she asked whether this “was a question of the Council and Leicestershire County Council playing ping pong and attempting to pass on the responsibility to each other?”

The Chair encouraged Ms Dillon to contact Councillor Rushton, in his capacity as the County Councillor for the area in question, with specific evidence with regards to the roads, and Councillor Wyatt as the relevant Portfolio Holder, with specific evidence of the need for the street cleaning element. He was confident that if she did so the Councillors would be able to better consider the issues.

The Communities and Climate Change Portfolio also encouraged Ms Dillon to contact him with the details and he would pay a visit to the streets in question.