Agenda item

Councillor Penny, Cabinet Member for Highways and the Environment, was in attendance and presented to the Committee a report summarising progress and performance in respect of each of the following service areas within her portfolio of responsibility:

·         Waterside Depot, including Household Waste and Recycling centre (but not PPS)

·         Streetsmart

·         Public Toilets

·         Waste Disposal/Waste Minimisation

·         Street Lighting

·         Street Cleaning

·         Recycling

·         Refuse Collection-Domestic and Trade

·         Ground and Tree Maintenance and Open Spaces

·         Removal of graffiti and abandoned vehicles

·         Parks (Streetsmart services only)

·         Playgrounds

·         Maintenance of Roundabouts and non-HRA verges

·         Building Services, cleaning, catering and security services

·         Gullies, drainage, minor road repairs and potholes

·         Public Transport, Concessionary Fares, Specialist Transport, Council Transport and Fleet Management

·         Traffic and Transport Forward Planning including Local Transport Plan and implementation

·         Building community capacity

·         Envirocrime

In overseeing these areas, the Cabinet Member for Highways and the Environment is responsible for delivering the following Priorities and Pledges of the Council’s Vision:

·         Pledge 3 (in part) Refresh and implement the Masterplan for Swindon Town Centre, supporting our vision that Swindon is a vibrant, modern place. We will do this through b) delivery of the bus boulevard, c) Delivering improvements to the strategic town centre transport network.

·         Pledge 5. Enhance Wellington Street as a prime thoroughfare for the town.

·         Pledge 13. Find new ways to engage communities and neighbourhoods to increase the cleanliness of their local areas.

·         Pledge 14: Encourage Swindon residents to increase recycling and reduce their waste in line with the Council’s Waste Strategy. Swindon Borough Council to reduce the use of single use plastics with the intention to stop using such plastics by 2019/20 and encourage local businesses to do the same.

Councillor Penny asked members to note that paragraph 4.3 of the report should read as ‘The Streetworks Team received 6684 notices from utility providers and contractors between January and December 2018, and the team works hard to minimize these disruptions to the travelling public’.

Councillor Penny and Councillor Donachie responded to questions put by CouncillorsEmma Faramarzi, Brian Mattock,Des Moffatt, Jim Robbins,Tim Swinyard and the Chair on the following matters:

·         The sufficiency of the three week notice period given to employers in Swindon on planned roadworks.

·         The ability of the Council to influence the timings of when other statutory bodies will undertake work across the road network in Swindon, to help minimise disruption to businesses and residents.

·         The excellent service provided by officers during the difficult weather conditions experienced this year.

·         The high number of missed green waste collections, and the plans to improve this service.

·         Pressures on the call centre at peak times, such as when green waste subscription renewals are due, and how this could be managed more effectively. 

·         The traffic delays being experienced by residents in the Churchward estate trying to join the Great Western Way, and the plans for addressing this issue. 

·         The importance of building effective relationships with businesses in the railway village as part of the Heritage Zone proposals.

·         How the Council will be looking at providing real time information on roadworks as part of its digital improvements.

·         The success of the modern techniques used by the Council for repairing potholes, and improving the durability of those repairs. 

·         The ability of Parish Council’s to fund highways work, should it be devolved.

·         The proposals to reduce the number of fly tipping incidents, to increase the number of prosecutions, and to improve the publicity surrounding these to act as a deterrent. 

·         The proposals for replacing bus corridors in Swindon with junctions that prioritise buses.

·         The effect of anti-social parking on bus timetables where vehicles have been unable to pass parked cars. The Council is currently reviewing its parking plan to help address these issues, and the possible use of cameras to prevent parking on bus stops was noted, along with the number of parking permits sold by the Council.

Resolved – (1) That Councillor Penny be thanked for attending the meeting to present her performance report and for her full and open responses to members’ questions and observations on the issues raised.

(2) That information requested by members during the course of the Committee’s consideration of this item be forwarded to them via the Committee Clerk.

(3) That a review of plans to address anti-social parking in the Borough be suggested for inclusion on this Committee’s Work Programme for the 2019/2020 Municipal Year.