Agenda item

To receive the report by the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport and Interim Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste on how  Highway Operations has been working with the Kent Resource Partnership and the KRP Street Scene Project Group (a sub-group of KRP) on three key joint anti-litter projects; fly-tipping, high speed road litter clearance, and a county wide anti-litter campaign.

1.    The Interim Deputy Director of Highways Transportation and Waste, Mr Wilkin, introduced a report on the collaborative response to tackle the problem of litter and fly-tipping in the county. Mr Wilkin introduced the Highway Manager for West Kent, Mrs Valentine.

2.    Mrs Valentine highlighted the role and work of; (i) the Kent Resource Partnership (KRP), a partnership between the district councils and KCC and (ii) The sub group of KRP, the KRP Street Scene Project Group which had been set up for two years.  Its membership included all 13 district and borough councils, Highways England and Balfour Beatty.  The Group discussed joint working initiatives.  The Highway Operations involvement in the group focused  on the following three key areas:

·           A County wide Litter Campaign

·           A Fly-tipping protocol

·           Joint working on litter clearance on Kent’s high speed roads

3.            Mrs Valentine advised that to tackle the problems of fly tipping the KRP Street Scene Project Group looked at the customer experience of reporting fly tipping and found that the public were often diverted backwards and forwards from the KCC to the District or borough councils.  The KRP agreed a twelve month trial of a consistent county wide approach to reporting fly tipping i.e. if this was on the carriage way it would be reported to KCC and if it was on a verge or footway it would be reported to the borough or district council.  This was being monitored and after 6 months was reported to be doing well.

4.            Mrs Valentine advised that there was a Waste Enforcement Officer who worked closely with the borough and district councils and Kent Police to find out where there were issues and take action.  There had been a number of successful prosecutions including a serial fly tipper operating in Kent and South London who was fined £15,000.

5.            Mrs Valentine explained that the Highway Operations annual programme was produced and arrangement made for the roads/lanes to be closed for repairs.  There were now trial agreements in place with the borough and districts councils for them to clear litter as part of the programme.  The results of the trial were still being assessed, and there were already approximately 50% success rate so there was more work to do.

6.            Mr Balfour noted the successes of the work collaborative working between the borough and district councils with the Kent Resource Partnership and thanked them for their cooperation and help in this work. 

7.            Mr Balfour thanked Mr Julian Cook, District Manager for Sevenoaks, for all his work carried out in the district.  He also thanked Mr Paul Vanston, the Lead Officer on the Kent Resource Partnership who was leaving KCC.

8.            Mr Wilkin and Mrs Valentine noted comments and responded the questions by Members as follows:

a)    A comment was made that fly posters lowered the tone of the area and encouraged other problems like fly tipping and that the project should be rolled out across the country.

b)    It was suggested that there was there were particular problems in East Kent with rubbish and waste from parked lorries, an issue that sat alongside the solutions of Operation Stack.  There were also problems in the Ashford District with rubbish along the highway and byway caused by lorry drivers. Mr Balfour advised that there was a meeting being held in the afternoon with stakeholders including; the districts and borough councils, Kent Police and Highways England.  The agenda for the meeting included Operation Stack and also; how Kent was going to deal with HGVs and fly parking. Mr Balfour said that Kent had lobbied the government for legislation regarding enforcement but to date had not received a response.  He considered that the discussions should still take place to find solutions.

c)    A comment was made that where there were spill overs of fly tipping on both a carriageway and a footway one authority should take the lead.

d)    It was reported that litter had been pushed onto the highway from the footway because it was considered that it would be dealt with quicker.

e)    It was suggested that there was a role for Parish Councils and Volunteer Groups who were interested in being included in the coordination of rubbish being collected on the closed highways.

f)     The collaborative working highlighted in the report was welcomed.

g)    A Member raised the issue of littering on the M20 and litter filling the salt pits entering into Dover and asked that the correct agency be advised on the issue.  Mr Balfour advised that this would be dealt with outside the meeting.

h)   Mr Balfour advised that Network Rail also had a role in the issue of littering.  He welcomed the support of the Parish councils and volunteers and they would be included.

i)     Maidstone Borough Council’s coordinated approach to litter collection was applauded as it provided; the bags, gloves, pickers and ensured that you were fully covered by insurance.

j)      It was reported that there were problems with littering on the A249 going into Medway that needed to be addressed.

k)    A comment was made that Operation Cubit had been effective in the past.

l)     It was suggested that there could be improvements made regarding fly posting if more was reported.

m)  A Member commended the work carried out by Julian Cook, District Manager Sevenoaks, for bringing the district and KCC together to tackle the issue of fly tipping in the area.

n)   Mrs Valentine confirmed that work was being carried out with London Boroughs, this work was intelligence lead.

o)    Mrs Valentine agreed to answer Members questions regarding paragraph 3.13 in the report outside the meeting.  She advised that Highways England had indicated that it was willing to share its programme dates with the districts and borough councils so that they were coordinated.

p)    Mrs Valentine advised that Braintree District Council was invited to the work shop as an exemplar in its work carried out with businesses to address the issue of litter in Essex.

q)    It was advised that there was a charging scheme for fly posting in Dartford. They were contacted and advised of the cost per day. The posters were soon removed.

r)     A request was made for the policy on the disposal of commercial freezers.

s)    A suggestion was made that residents needed to be educated that if someone was willing to take their large load of household rubbish for little money it may not be disposed of legally in a licensed site.

t)     Mrs Valentine agreed to report back on the 12 month trial of the new county wide consistent approach to fly-tipping clearance on the public highway.

u)   A request was made for a more rational rubbish collection service across the county.

v)    It was suggested that there were issues with litter on all roads not just high speed roads.

9.            RESOLVED that:-

(a)       the responses to comments and questions by Members be noted; and

(b)       the continued work of Highway Operations with the Kent Resource Partnership outlined in the report be noted.