‘Leaves turned to mulch in the gutter’
Questions over street system
A SITUATION which sees council workers reacting to problems such as overgrown trees and leaves in the gutters after residents have reported them, and not before, has been criticised.
At a full meeting of Charnwood Borough Council, Coun Keith Harris questioned whether the system was effective and asked whether the council, once it had been made aware of a problem in a certain area, couldn’t keep an eye on it, to make sure it doesn’t resurface.
He told the council: “My own street, Rendell Street, hadn’t been cleaned for so long that after autumn, the leaves had turned to mulch in the gutter, which was clogging drains.
“Residents have told me that they have to report trees that need cutting back time and time again and can’t understand why, when I try to explain the nature of the contract to them.
“None of them think that this is a good method.
“They say that the reporting should lead to the council knowing that this needs to be done next time.
“There are trees blocking two street lights on Braddon Road and the bus stop beneath is dark at night residents have reported this again and again
“I recognise that we need efficiency savings but a system that relies on residents reporting, means that streets accumulate mulch and dust. Paths become impassable and trees cause nuisance and unsafe areas, before anyone gets round to reporting it.
“The savings are euphemistically called efficiency savings. My residents don’t think they are efficient. They think they are corner cutting as work is delayed until someone gets fed up and reports. That’s how the savings are made.”
Coun Leigh Harper Davies, the council’s lead member for performance of major contracts, replied saying the ever-changing weather patterns made problems difficult to predict.
She said: “I think it’s very hard from a street cleansing perspective relating to the weather because the weather, as we know, has been very cold, very wet, very dry and I think it’s very hard to predict the road cleansing as it is because of the unpredictably of the weather.
“I’m very surprised that you are very unhappy with the services, because I’ve found nothing but exemplary services. Sometimes it takes them a little while to get round to what we need to be doing, but they do do it.”
Coun Harris’ query was raised as part of the full council’s questions item and, as well as Coun HarperDavies’ reply, an official statement regarding the situation was also made.
The statement said that the council’s contractor, Serco “deploys its resources pro-actively to ensure that all areas are maintained at the required standard.
“Compliments for the service outnumber the number of complaints by a ratio of approximately 3 to 1.
“Regular inspections are conducted by Serco and council staff to ensure that a high level of cleanliness is maintained at all times.
“A significant number of inspections, and additional less formal monitoring takes place.
“However, the monitoring that is conducted can only be classed as a sample of the borough at any given time.
“Residents and elected members are encouraged to report any areas of concern in order that an appropriate response can be made to each case.
“Finally it is important to note that whilst the contract has brought significant efficiency savings to Charnwood, the contract was never awarded on the basis of cheapest option, with quality being a more significant factor.”