Agenda item

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Chairman introduced the report on the Bishopsgate Bin Trial, noting that it had come before the committee for information rather than for decision given that the committee’s agreement had been given, in principle, on a previous occasion, and that ward members had been consulted throughout.

In response to congratulations from a member over the achievement of c.98% of Bishopsgate being rated category A-B, the Chairman concurred and noted that the trial appeared to have been successful.

In response to a query from a member over why City of London Police advice had stated that blast resistant bins were no longer required, the Assistant Cleansing Director replied that the use of litter bins for deployment of terrorist devices had been a historic IRA tactic and that this tactic did not reflect the current pattern of terrorist threat, hence the updated police advice.

The Assistant Cleansing Director went on to note that Keep Britain Tidy was keen to embark upon a national campaign entitled Which Side of the Fence during which cleansing authorities would only cleanse one side of a given street at weekends. He added that a 200 yard stretch of Minories was being considered for part of the campaign.

In response to concerns from a member that the weekends were not a suitable time to carry out such a campaign due to reduced footfall and corresponding lack of scope to educate the public, and that a mid-week campaign along a busier stretch of public highway such as Bishopsgate would be more appropriate, the Assistant Cleansing Director replied that the timing of the proposal was in keeping with the wider Keep Britain Tidy campaign and that Minories had been chosen due to the Night Time Economy of the local area.

Members also observed that it would perhaps be best to focus the campaign on a narrow street so that members of the public could easily compare cleansed/uncleansed areas of the public highway, and that ward members and local businesses should be consulted before an area was decided upon.