A pilot initiative by the Council to improve street cleanliness, street sign visibility and keep bus shelters looking smart is up-and-running.
A Parish Ranger will cover eleven parishes in the Chew Valley; Chew Magna, Chew Stoke, Compton Martin, East Harptree, Hinton Blewett, Nempnett Thrubwell, Norton Malreward, Stanton Drew, Stowey Sutton, Ubley and West Harptree.
The aim of the Ranger is to ensure that basic neighbourhood improvement tasks, such as clearing vegetation from highways drainage and clearing graffiti, are carried out quickly and efficiently in response to reports from Parish Councils and members of the public.
Councillor Paul Crossley (Lib-Dem, Southdown), Leader of Council, said: “We are an innovative Council wanting to explore ways of delivering an even better service to our residents on the sorts of environmental improvements that can make a big difference to local communities, like cleaning bus shelters. The results of this pilot will be used to consider how the scheme could work effectively in the future.
“The Ranger will work in partnership with the local Parish Councils, and support all the other services that are currently being offered in the villages such as the Snow Warden and Parish Sweeper schemes.”
This is a new role for the Council and will if successful be rolled out across the whole rural district from April 2014 with no impact on existing budgets.
Peter Duppa Miller, Secretary of the Local Councils Association, said: “This innovative project, which brings together so many of the existing Council services into a single locally-tasked service, is most welcome. I look forward to seeing how local people respond to the service and what can be learnt from the pilot should the Council decide to roll it out further.”
The ranger will have these duties:
Highway Maintenance:
- Cleaning/washing existing sign
- Cutting vegetation from signs
- Re-align and refix signs
- Repaint/repair fingerposts
- Repaint milestones
- Clear leaves and other debris from gully tops
- Clear vegetation from highway drainage
- Clear minor storm debris discharge
- Verge strimming – visibilities
Traffic Management:
- Attaching new brown signs to existing posts
- Attaching temporary signs as directed by Highways
- Installation of individual bollards (hazard markers/wood)
Cleansing:
- Litter bin collection (Mon & Fri)
- Verge litter picking
- Village pavement sweeping (outside of parish sweeper scheme)
Public Transport:
- Cleaning bus shelters – panels, timetable case and the roof
- Removal of graffiti/fly posters
- Attaching temporary flags, as directed by public transport.
To get in touch with the Ranger, contact your local Parish Council office taking part in the pilot to report any issues that need resolving.
