Recent Developments

Ashfield District Council has recently purchased two new Mini-Sweepers enabling a comprehensive cleaning program of town centres and problem areas. In conjunction with revised working hours, the department is now able to operate an extended service especially into weekends.

To tackle Weeds on our streets the department has put into practice two mobile spraying quad bikes to efficiently tackle weeds throughout the district.

More Litter & Dog Bins are being installed across the district which should help local communities keep their area litter free. 

The Division is responsible for the cleansing of the whole district which includes 3 major towns:

•  Hucknall
•  Kirkby-in-Ashfield 
•  Sutton-in-Ashfield

a number of villages:

•  Jacksdale
•  Selston 
•  Underwood
•  Westwood 
•  in addition to these there are a number of smaller settlements.

Consequently there are:

•  105 kilometres of principal roads
•  318 kilometres of other roads
•  31 kilometres of footpaths
•  various car parks
•  pedestrian precincts 
•  and open spaces to be maintained.

The contract states:

"The contractor is required to mechanically and/or manually sweep, remove all debris and deposits including weeds and seasonal deposits, empty litter bins and remove all collected material to an authorised point of disposal in accordance with the Specification to those defined individual streets/areas listed. Maintaining to standards stated in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and outlined in the Code of practice on Litter and Refuse, January 1991".

• Summary of the Act and ordering details
• Full transcript of the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse

In order to provide a service of programmed and ad-hoc cleaning e.g. picking up fly-tipping, the Division operates 3 main road sweepers, 3 mini sweepers and 3 mobile pick-up teams.

Currently all Streets and Roads are cleaned at least once ever 12 weeks however due to high usage there are a number of areas that are cleaned on a much greater frequency.

•  Category 1 Zones :- Town Centres, Shopping Centres, Shopping Streets, Major Transport Centres and central Car Parks are cleaned daily and twice on Fridays and Saturdays. Town Centres are cleaned continuously during Friday and Saturday.
•  Category 2 Zones:- High-Density Residential areas around the centre are cleaned once a week 
•  Category 3 Zones:- Low Density Residential Areas and Industrial Estates are generally cleaned on a combination of once every 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 weeks depending on their use. A number of category 3 areas of high pedestrian and traffic usage are cleaned on a weekly basis.

During the year 2001 - 2002 the Cleansing Department have collected 2,730 tonnes of rubbish from our streets / footpaths and dealt with 329 incidents of Fly-Tipping (during 2000 - 2001 there were 237 incidents).

Other services also provided include:- 

•  The clearing and cleansing of blocked drains, cesspools and septic tanks. 
•  The cleaning of road gullies. 
•  The washing and cleansing of pedestrian areas. 
•  The removal of weeds and unwanted vegetation. 
•  The emptying and cleansing of all litter bins. 
•  The cleansing of bollards and road signs 
•  The cleansing of bus shelters. 
•  The cleaning of public conveniences. 
•  The removal of leaf and blossom fall. 
•  The emergency cleansing of roads following an accident. 
•  The gritting of streets and removal of snow. More information on the roads in winter.