Issue - meetings

The Chairman, who had made the request for call-in, had done so for three main reasons: he refuted the assertion that there had been meaningful public consultation in terms of the four bring bank sites which had been identified for removal of the CBC bring banks; 32% of those surveyed had supported the removal of the garden waste skip at the household recycling centre, but what of the other 68%, and; the report suggested that carbon emissions would drop as a result of larger vehicles making fewer journeys (to empty bring bank skips) but it appeared no account had been taken of the residents that would have to travel further to access bring banks at other locations.

Karen Watson, the interim Client Manager for Environmental Services outlined the rationale for the recommendations in the Cabinet report.  There had been a large increase in resident recycling and the household recycling centre continued to be well used.  Feedback from users of the site suggested that they would like the site to accept a wider range of materials, but for this to be considered, the site would need to be optimised to create more space, whilst managing health and safety and operating costs would need to be reduced to fund the cost of recycling any additional materials.  All existing containers were old and in varying states of disrepair and therefore needed to be replaced.  Larger (new) containers would have greater capacity and therefore need to be emptied less frequently.  In addition to the household recycling centre, the Council also provided 12 bring bank sites across the town and following the public consultation there was support for the removal of some of the less well used recycling banks where residents can access the kerbside recycling service.  Everest Road and the High Street had the lowest usage, Church Piece caused the biggest health and safety issues, as well as reducing the number of car parking spaces in a relatively small car park, and the Hatherley area benefitted from bring bank sites in two local supermarkets, with Asda – Hatherley Lane being the least well used.  These sites also caused more fly-tipping issues.

The Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment had prepared answers to some of the questions that were circulated in advance (Appendix 1) but after reading his response to the first question, the Chairman invited other members of the committee to put any questions they had.  The Cabinet Member and Client Manager gave the following responses:

·      The removal of the garden waste skip at the household recycling centre would create a large area on the site which could accommodate skips for the collection of alternative materials.  Over 16,000 people subscribed to the garden waste scheme and further consultation would provide insight into why people continued to use the site when alternatives were available.     

·      There had been no accidents at Church Piece, which was described as a miracle, and ‘near miss’ data was not collated.  But the driver(s) were so concerned by the risks posed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6