The trial I pushed for not long after becoming a member of council is a step closer to reality given the results of a recent survey by council. 62% of those people who participated in the trial responded to the survey.
A 62% response rate is a very high response rate , well over what we normally get. 71% of the participants advised they would continue using the service it was ongoing and 52% of the participants thought the trial improved the sweeping of the street.
With the majority finding the trial beneficial I am encouraged that this is an initiative that will address the concerns many residents have expressed about their street not being swept often enough.
The beauty of trials is of course it gives us an opportunity to learn from experience how to structure the program. For instance 30% of respondents were concerned that the sweeper did not arrive on the day notified.
26% of respondents identified that there were problems with cars parked in the street on the day the sweeper arrived were not resident owned cars.
Our staff are now going to conduct an internal review of the sweeping services is to be completed by December 2013. The following suggestions, as a result of this trial, will be considered as part of the review.
· Review the schedule of the street sweeper
· Consideration of frequency of street sweeping dependent on types of trees located in the street.
· Review of the heavy leaf fall schedule and locations.
· Discourage ‘on demand’ pick ups of leaf piles as requested by residents
· Accurate and reliable notifications to residents.
· Using bollards as a way to indicate to residents the sweeper is coming and to discourage people from parking on the street (one side only leaving one side of the street for parking)
· Sweeper drivers advising of ‘problem’ areas and organising for bollards to be placed on street prior to the sweep.
· How the notification service is to be promoted to residents if it is to be continued.
A major factor in the success of the Street Sweeping notification is the notifications need to be accurate and this will need to be considered within the review. The schedule will need to fit in with the notifications to ensure a more positive response from residents.
A step closer.
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