Agenda item

            (Mr. J. McConnell, City Services Manager, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered a report which provided details on waste collections, management and performance, which included information on the ongoing pilot schemes relating to the ‘Park with us in Mind’ and ‘Small Vehicles for Difficult to Access Streets’. An extract of the report regarding the above schemes is set out hereunder:

                        Restricted Access Streets Pilots Updates

3.1       Members will be aware that this pilot was launched on 6th May 2024, the overall scheme envisaged three ‘cycles’ in these areas over a period of approximately 18 months.  A report was presented to People and Communities Committee in December 2024 after the first cycle.

3.2       Since then, the second cycle was planned as follows and is now complete.

3.3       Officers are now in a position to provide some analysis and data to compare both crew reports and customer contact levels covering the 6 weeks prior to intervention, the results from the first cycle and now the results from the second cycle.

As before, the data comes from two sources

·             Operational crew reports of not being able to access streets or blocked alleyways, entrances etc.

·             Customer contact data in relation to residents in the relevant streets reporting non collections

3.4       From this set of data it would seem that the improvements in relation to both crews reporting issues and from customer contacts has been maintained during the second cycle of monitoring and enforcement by DFI.

·          In 5 of the 6 areas crew have reported less instances of non-access with an overall reduction of 37% compared to the 6 week period prior to pilot launch.  There has been an improvement in the Iveagh/ Broadway area but there has been a slight increase in the Springfield Road area.

·          In 4 of the six areas there was a reduction of customer contacts with an equivalent overall reduction of reports by 47% against baseline. There was again an improvement in the Iveagh / Broadway area, exceptions to this are in the Stranmillis and Donegall Road / Village areas.

3.5       An officer review meeting with BCC and DFI will take place at the in May to discuss the data and to see if any improvements can be introduced to improve on the first cycle.

Introduction of Small Vehicles for Difficult to Access Streets

3.6       Members will be aware that the pilot for this initiative, consisting of two leased 18 tonnes Dennis Eagle Refuse Collection Vehicles and temporary crews, commenced collection in identified and agreed difficult to access streets on 12th August 2024. The pilot has been full rolled out since December 2024.

3.7       Following the initial success of the first three months of the pilot, reported to the Committee in December 2024, officers submitted a growth proposal for the addition of two additional crews and vehicles to make this scheme permanent, and members approved this proposal as part of the 2025/26 rate setting process. Resources and Fleet are now working through the financial governance process to procure vehicles and recruit staff on a permanent basis.

3.8       In all, the number of streets being serviced by the two smaller vehicles is as follows:

3.9       The latest data is outlined below in Table 3. The table shows the performance of the pilot in the last three months against the three months before pilot launch and the equivalent three months of the prior year. Again, two measures are captured in relation to this; crews reporting issues via Report It App and customers raising service requests received via the Customer Hub.

3.10     Data has been produced comparing the amount of crew reports and customer contacts in relation to missed collections as follows

·             The latest three months of small vehicles in operation against the three months immediately prior to their introduction

·             The latest three months in operation against the same period the previous year (Jan-Mar 24 vs Jan-Mar25)

3.11     A Member requested information in relation to the legislative powers the Council has in relation to enforcing the (non) retrieval of bins after waste collection.

3.12     In relation to this matter, relevant legislation outlines several powers the council has in relation to the collection of Waste from Households (and Commercial entities). They include

1.          the council may require the occupier to place the waste for collection in receptacles of a kind and number specified. Separate receptacles or compartments of receptacles may be required to be used for waste which is to be recycled and waste which is not.

2.        In making requirements as respect to receptacles, the placing of the receptacles for the purpose of facilitating the emptying of them, and access to the receptacles for that purpose including the placing of the receptacles for that purpose on roads.

3.13     It can be seen that the Council an ask for receptacles (bins) to be placed on roads for collection purposes.  Specifically, however, in relation to the retrieval of receptacles from the street, the legislation does not give the Council any powers of enforcement.

3.14     It is our understanding that enforcement powers in relation to the removal of obstructions from the pavement or from roads the public are under the remit of the Department for Infrastructure.

3.15     As the Council has no powers to enforce retrieval, the service has for many years tried to engage with residents on a local basis, through the use of tags and stickers on bins, leafleting and lettering households. On occasions where it has finally been determined that a bin has been abandoned, then arrangements may be put in place to remove it permanently.

            The Committee noted the contents of the report.

            Arising from discussion, the City Services Manager undertook to consult with representatives of the Department for Infrastructure and the Police Service of Northern Ireland regarding the levels of awareness raising, monitoring and enforcement conducted in relation to the ‘Park with us in Mind’ and ‘Small Vehicles for Difficult to Access Streets’ schemes with a view to providing an update at a future meeting.