Grot spot issues under scrutiny of new focus group
LITTER clearance work and problems in West Lancashire, including fly-tipping and ‘grot spots’ in places such as Westhead Clough near Skelmersdale, will come under closer scrutiny by a new group formed by the borough council.
And links between grass cutting work and litter will be looked at too, including schedules and grass contractors’ work.
A ‘task-and-finish group’ is being created to look at the challenges in-depth and to get more councillors and others involved in trying to find better solutions.
Residents, local businesses, organisations or experts might get involved in the task-and-finish group too, depending on their interests and experience.
Councillors at West Lancashire are setting-up a number of taskand-finish groups.
They want to broaden participation by councillors who are not on committees and also involve more people outside the council, to create better services and policies.
Task-and-finish groups may be short-term or long-term, depending on what they focus on.
Councillors on the Corporate and Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee have decided to create a litter and flytipping task-and-finish group.
An early suggestion was centred on challenges around Skelmersdale, including litter and fly-tipping in hard-to-reach places such as below bridges and in valleys, including Westhead Clough in Birch Green.
But councillors said litter was a borough-wide challenge.
Speaking at the scrutiny committee meeting, Labour Coun Sue Gregson said: “Litter is a problem under bridges and other areas. But I’ve been told that those types of areas can be hard to get to with equipment.
“But I don’t think that’s good enough for residents. Can’t we look at equipment?
“And this can’t be a problem only in Skelmersdale. There must be areas all over the borough where litter is hard to reach? We have all got grot-spots in our wards that are hard to reach.”
She emphasised: “I dislocated my shoulder when clearing one of the areas. It is hard work but it can be done.”
Grass-cutting by contractors was also raised by a number of councillors. Independent Coun James Upjohn said: “When grass isn’t cut, it causes uproar.
“I had a massive issue with grass. Utilities vehicles could not get into some areas and I had complaints from residents about their dogs getting tics.”
On fly-tipping, he added: “Westhead Clough was cleared in 2007 with Lancashire Police. I went back some years later and hundreds of tons of rubbish was cleared from the clough. I asked about it and people said access was the issue. How do we get machines down there?”
Conservative Coun Paul Turpin said: “Grass cutting is a more complex issue but it is connected to litter too.”
West Lancashire council officers told the scrutiny committee to think carefully about their priority topics for the new task-andfinish group because carryingout detailed work would take up a considerable amount of time for an officer involved.
Scrutiny committee chairwoman Labour Coun Donna West said: “Litter is a problem in many areas and not just around shops. Litter is thrown in the middle of roads near fast-food shops.”
She suggested grass-cutting could be focused on by a taskand-finish group next year. But in the meantime, information on cutting schedules and dates could be requested for work on litter.
Conservative Coun John Gordon said: “The frustration for residents and councillors is being told over the phone that the grass contractors have been to a site (according to the schedule) but the cutting has not been done.
“They say we are entitled to eight cuts per year but it does not happen. There are a lot of things that can go wrong.”
Labour Coun Cynthia Dereli urged councillors to seize the opportunities offered by the new task-and-finish groups.
She said councillors who were not on committees had limited engagement with council activity, such as expressing ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in formal debates and votes.
The new groups were an opportunity to really get involved.
The litter task-and-finish group will meet over coming months and report back to the council with findings and suggestions later this year.