1. From Ms. Natalie Bryan:
To the Portfolio Holder for Environment:
“It has been revealed that during the 'Ashfield Big Spring Clean' that asbestos was dumped in the skip on Babbacombe Way (in Hucknall). Will the portfolio holder now accept responsibility for exposing the public, council workers and contractors to this hazardous, carcinogenic material?”
2. From Ms. Lynda Mcleod on behalf of Butlers Hill Project Community Group, Hucknall:
To Councillor Helen-Ann Smith as the Portfolio Holder responsible for Parks and Open Spaces:
"The proposed banning of dogs from Ashfield sports pitches & parks is a move which will punish responsible dog owners who clean up after their pets. Will the portfolio holder responsible confirm that these proposals will not go any further?"
Minutes:
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the following questions had been submitted:-
Question 1
From Ms. Natalie Bryan:
“To the Portfolio Holder for Environment:
It has been revealed that during the 'Ashfield Big Spring Clean' that asbestos was dumped in the skip on Babbacombe Way (in Hucknall). Will the portfolio holder now accept responsibility for exposing the public, council workers and contractors to this hazardous, carcinogenic material?”
The Deputy Leader of the Council (Outward Focus) responded to the question as follows:-
“Thank you for your question Miss Byron. The Big Ashfield Spring Clean was a campaign run by this Council for three weeks throughout May and June this year which encouraged residents to clear out their waste. Skips and bin lorries were provided for residents use.
The campaign was a great success which enabled residents to dispose of over 80 tonnes of waste. In Hucknall, for instance, I was delighted to join Councillor John Wilmott, alongside local residents Rebecca Cullen and Lee Waters, in cleaning Titchfield Park before heading off into the Hucknall town centre.
Information received by both this Council and Councillor John Wilmott is that it was overwhelmingly welcomed by local people in Hucknall. Indeed, we look to next year, the day when the Spring Clean returns to Hucknall.
Back to your question about last year’s Spring Clean, the skips used for the campaign were provided by a specialist waste disposal contractor who was able to process all of the waste put into the skips.
In Hucknall on Babbacombe Way there was a small amount of construction waste, around 100 kilograms and that construction waste contained about around 1% of asbestos. The equivalent of a bag of sugar. The specialist skip company using their own employees was able to remove the asbestos and dispose of it safely following their own internal risk assessments and policies.
Council crews carried out checks on the skip sites to ensure that any waste needing specialist disposal could be reported to the contractor. All necessary precautions were taken and there were no further incidents of asbestos waste identified. It’s important to note that no other asbestos was found in any other skips in the three weeks that our Spring Clean was carried out.
Due to the fact we collected fine grained data on the Spring Clean, opposition Members are aware of the issue regarding the small amount of asbestos. Members will also be aware that there are plenty of incidents where construction waste including asbestos is fly tipped by unscrupulous contractors for our environmental crews to pick up. Our crews are fully aware of protocols around finding asbestos as is the skip company which we used. You should also note that asbestos is not harmful if left untouched.
Regarding the Spring Clean, although skips were not manned they were monitored and all necessary precautions were taken. The skip company took full responsibility for the waste and dealt with it through their procedures.
Thank you.”
The Chairman then gave Ms. Bryan the opportunity to ask a supplementary question and she responded as follows:-
“Thank you. Given that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure and the detection was not actually until after ADC workers had cleaned around the skip site, will the Portfolio Holder and I think the Leader of the Administration, now give a personal apology to both the ADC refuge workers and residents of Ashfield, in particular in Hucknall living on Babbacombe Way, for failing to anticipate the very real probability that hazardous waste, including asbestos, could have been dumped in unmanned skips. And will they further give a guarantee that they will not make the same mistakes in the future.”
The Deputy Leader of the Council (Outward Focus) again responded to the
supplementary question as follows:-
“Thank you for your question, Miss Bryan. I can guarantee that on any future project that procedures have been put in place to prevent it from happening again. I do feel that I did give a complete answer to your question within my previous answer.
However, I’m delighted to be able to take this opportunity to announce this week that the Cabinet have approved the Big Ashfield Spring Clean which will be taking place again next year. I’m thrilled that we can offer a service that will help all residents across the District. We’ll be driving down every single street making it easier for residents to dispose of their rubbish and I know last year there was some residents that struggled to use the skips due to work commitments. This new approach will accommodate all residents.
We’ll be running a free bulky waste collection service for the duration of the Spring Clean and we’ll be working with local community groups and organisations to carry out community litter picks. It will be our staff collecting and disposing of the waste into the lorries. This will prevent any further trade waste from being disposed of in our skips in the future as part of our projects.
Thank you.”
Question 2
From Ms. Lynda Mcleod, on behalf of Butlers Hill Project Community Group, Hucknall:
“To Councillor Helen-Ann Smith as the Portfolio Holder responsible for Parks and Open Spaces:
The proposed banning of dogs from Ashfield sports pitches & parks is a move which will punish responsible dog owners who clean up after their pets. Will the portfolio holder responsible confirm that these proposals will not go any further?"
The Deputy Leader of the Council (Outward Focus) responded to the question as follows:-
“Thank you, Ms. Mcleod, for your question. Firstly, I just want to condemn a leaflet that’s been distributed throughout Hucknall and Harlow Wood and Sutton Junction on this issue. I have asked the Police to look into this as it’s a breach of the Representation of the Peoples Act. Because it is a blatant lie. Can I say, Ms. Mcleod, that I’m sorry that a clear misrepresentation of the fact has been led to your question this evening. I hope that if you are contacted by the Police you can assist them in their enquiries.
The impact of the Labour Party deliberately misleading residents has an adverse impact on the delivery of the Council services in our District. Dozens of residents have contacted our Council’s customer services for clarification on claims that as your question asks, we are proposing to ban dogs from Ashfield’s sports pitches and parks. Let me make this quite clear, Ms. Mcleod, Ashfield District is absolutely not proposing to ban dogs from Council owned parks or open spaces.
The Council is looking at options to prevent dog fouling on sports pitches where children play as it is unacceptable for sports clubs to have to pick up dog faeces before they can enjoy a game of football. That is all. There will not be, nor has it ever been proposed, a ban on dogs from our parks. We are not targeting responsible dog owners. There will not, nor has it ever been proposed, a ban on dogs from our parks. We are not targeting responsible dog owners but committed to providing safe and clean recreational space for all residents to enjoy.
I was recently sent a picture from a mother in Leamington. Her son was playing football on the Twitchell Recreation Ground and came home covered in dog muck. The mother didn’t want dogs banning from sports pitches, she just wanted dog owners to be more responsible.
At the Full Council in October there was a motion for the Council to consider banning all dogs from Council owned football and sports pitches. The decision which was taken was to further investigate the issue. There was no request to ban dogs from parks. Subsequent leaflets from the Labour Party picked this issue up as a community campaign.
The Council resolves ongoing complaints of dog faeces being left on sports pitches by irresponsible owners for those who then use the facility to have to clean up before they can play. Our investigations will explore this issue in more detail before coming to any conclusions. There is currently a Public Space Protection Order in place enabling enforcement action relating to a number of types of issues including dog fouling, not carrying a suitable receptacle to pick up dog faeces, maximum numbers of dogs on leads, maximum number of dogs on a lead by direction, dog exclusion areas for enclosed sports areas and enclosed children’s play areas and parks.
Again I want to strongly reiterate that this Council does not want to discourage responsible dog owners from using our beautiful award winning parks across our District. Any other assertion on this issue from the Labour Party is simply a tawdry lie. Thank you, Madam Chairman.”
The Chairman then gave Ms. Mcleod the opportunity to ask a supplementary question and she responded as follows:-
“If this ban does go ahead, how do you actually propose to put a stop to it? There doesn’t seem to be any presence at the moment of PCSO’s in the area or anything, so how is this actually going to work if it does go ahead?
The Deputy Leader of the Council (Outward Focus) again responded to the
supplementary question as follows:-
“I refer to my previous answer, there will be no ban on dogs on play areas. The only ban on dogs in play areas is enclosed play spaces. Like, for example, where you’ve got an enclosed children’s park. But those bans are already in place.
We don’t want to stop dog owners being able to walk their dogs, which is one of the reasons why this Cabinet have looked into different options and we’re working with a company that’s going to be providing, free to the Council, big noticeboards in all the parks in the District with free poo bags for people to collect them themselves. So we’re not, we don’t want to ban dog owners from parks.
We want to encourage dog owners to go to parks but we want to encourage them to be more responsible. This is just not true. What is true is that this Council will work with the residents, the communities, to make their lives better. To make the lives of children better. So children aren’t walking into their house after playing football covered in dog faeces. We want to do the best for our residents and this is just scaremongering.
Thank you, Madam Chairman.”
(At this point in the proceedings, a point of clarification was requested and following the response the meeting was adjourned at 7.45 p.m. and reconvened at 7.48 p.m.)