Issue - meetings

That the Committee recommends approval of the Council’s revised Grass

Cutting Policy to Cabinet with the recommendations as noted in the 

powerpoint presentation.

The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) introduced a report to seek a recommendation from the Committee to Cabinet to approve the changes to the Waste Collections Policy following the 2015/16 Business Planning process.  He provided background information and referred to the main considerations in the report which summarised the changes to the existing Policy. 

The Chief Officer introduced Harvey Mitchell, Waste Manager, and invited him to give a presentation on the review of the Waste Collections Policy.  The main points of the presentation were as follows:

·         Household Recycling Centre’s (HRC’s)

·         Missed collections

·         Garden Waste Service

·         Bulky Waste Service

·         7 day collections

·         Replacement containers

Councillor Cindy Hinds thanked the Community Councils for their contributions to the Workshops held the previous week.  She expressed concerns about Hope Recycling Centre and asked if it  could remain open at weekends.  The Chief Officer advised that the Centre had the lowest footfall and poorest recycling rates of all Centres. 

Councillor Nancy Matthews suggested that point 3.38 of the report relating to collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s day needed to be made clearer within the policy. Councillor Matthews also asked if the van permits could be extended to 4 sites.  She expressed concerns that the draft  policy still allowed for side waste to be collected, and said she was uncomfortable with the proposals for Sunday collections. 

The Chief Officer advised that Greenfield and Mold were the largest sites and additional staffing resources were made available.  He explained that there would be cost implications in relation to staffing for other sites to accommodate van permits.

Councillor Ian Dunbar sought clarification regarding yellow stickers on bins for assisted collections.   He advised that on occasions there were problems at the Connah's Quay site due to traffic queues when the skips were being emptied. 

The Cabinet Member for Waste Strategy, Public Protection & Leisure advised that  yellow stickers should no longer be in use.  He explained that assisted collections were agreed between the individual and the relevant team.  He acknowledged that servicing the sites had caused some problems but that every effort would be made to ensure that traffic continued to flow.

Councillor David Evans referred to the need to provide a household bill when collecting replacement containers.   He felt this was unnecessary and expressed concern that this  may create problems for residents and discourage them to recycle or result in fly-tipping.  He also requested data on fly tipping for Flintshire and emphasised the need to monitor fly-tipping if changes were implemented.   Councillor Evans emphasised the need for waste containers to be returned to their point of origin.

The Waste Manager stated that the cost of replacement containers was considerable.  He advised that historic data on fly tipping was available and would be included in performance reports in future.  He said it would be the responsibility of the charge-hand in future to ensure that the waste containers were returned appropriately.

Councillor Haydn Bateman expressed concerns regarding Sunday collections and asked which areas would be affected.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45