Published by Telford & Wrekin Council on 8 May
Telford & Wrekin Council today (TUE) launches two new dedicated Rapid Response teams to clean roads around the borough – which will be complemented in two parishes by dedicated environmental teams.
There will be one Rapid Response team to serve the north of the borough and one for the south and they will be able to deal with large amounts of litter, fly tipping, leaf and footpath sweeping and additional bin emptying.
The main aim of the two teams being established is to ensure that specific litter hotspots are managed effectively and additional routine litter picking in parts of the council’s priority wards.
Dedicated environmental teams will also be launched in two parishes as part of partnerships between the respective parish councils – St George’s & Priorslee and Great Dawley – and Telford & Wrekin Council.
The St George’s & Priorslee team consists of one worker and a modern apprentice and Great Dawley consists of one worker and two modern apprentices.
The partnership agreements, which run for the next five years, are another example of how Telford and Wrekin and its partners are coming together and working co-operatively to find new solutions for public services in the borough.
The two parish teams will cover enhanced service tasks including litter picking and maintaining areas not covered by Telford & Wrekin Council, weeding, planting, leaf fall cleaning, repairs to street furniture and cleaning alleyways and underpasses.
The council currently spends in the region of £1.8m on addressing litter problems and will soon be launching a community campaign where local residents can request a litter bin to be installed on any public area where they see litter as an issue.
Councillor Shaun Davies, cabinet member for Environment, Co-operative Councils and Partnerships, said: “We are committed to making Telford and Wrekin as clean and pleasant a place as possible and this launch of the two Rapid Response teams reflect that.
“I am delighted that our work to become a Co-operative Council has also led to two extremely positive parish-led partnerships to improve local environments in St Georges & Priorslee and Great Dawley.
“We already provide over 2,600 litter bins across the Borough and our soon to be launched ‘request a bin campaign’ will lead to a further 300 bins installed.
“This will make a real difference in reducing litter and will allow us to listen and respond to local litter related issues raised by the community.”
