Welcome to those of you who are new to the Panel and thank you to those of you who have been involved in Panel consultations over the last few months (or even years!).
This is a brief update about the work of Havant’s Borough Council’s Citizens’ Panel. If you would like to find out more please visit our Citizens' Panel web pages>>
Please take the time to complete the enclosed questionnaire which is about the environment. This is one of the issues that you have told us that you are concerned about and it is really important that we hear your views, even if you think you don’t have much to say.
Don’t forget that we operate the Panel both by post and on-line, if you don’t already and would prefer to complete your questionnaires on-line then please let us know.
Don’t forget that if your contact details have changed or you would like to be removed from the Citizens’ Panel we need to know.
Please contact Beth Manwaring at consultation@havant.gov.uk or 023 9244 6629
We had a fantastic response to the last questionnaire, which asked you about the waste and recycling service that the council provides. Over a thousand of you sent back your questionnaires which means that 64% of the Panel replied.
The Waste and Resources Team at the council will be using these results over the coming year to help them to develop their service in a way that meets your needs.
This questionnaire told us that overall satisfaction with the waste and recycling service is high. 82% of you told us that you were happy with the household recycling service and 75% are happy with the waste collection service. When we looked closely at the results we found that there are specific areas that still need improving.
That you would like to be able to recycle more materials from the kerbside and asked why everything with the ‘Recycle’ logo on it can’t be recycled. We know that this can be confusing, and we are working with our contractor and other partners in Hampshire to try and extend the range of materials we can collect for recycling from the kerbside. The materials we currently collect are sold on for environmentally friendly uses in the UK.
That you are unhappy with the way that the garden waste collection service currently works (and in fact many of you did not know about this service). We are going to introduce a new garden waste collection service from April 2009. This will be a reusable sack collected on a regular day for a one-off annual fee. Look out for more information on this service because you also told us that we need to promote it better.
That local recycling facilities, such as bottle, paper/cardboard, textile, book and shoe banks, can sometimes be untidy. To help resolve this we have provided bins at these facilities for carrier bags and other miscellaneous bits of rubbish that make the sites untidy. A programme of repair and cleaning is also underway.
That signposting to some local recycling facilities could be better. We know that signposting to some of our smaller sites needs improving and we will be investigating this.
That whilst you may know what can be recycled in your kerbside collection sometimes you not sure what can’t. The council’s waste advisers are running an education and awareness programme and we will carry on sending out leaflets to your home every year telling you what can and can’t be recycled.
That you don’t feel informed about what campaigns are happening in your area to help you recycle and what happens to the materials after they are collected for recycling. We will be putting more information on our website, in the Council’s Serving You magazine and putting leaflets through your door to tell you more about recycling. In 2009 there will be a new campaign to encourage residents to recycle cans so look out for this!
That you would like more information about recycling electrical items. This will be the subject of an article in Serving You and we will put more information on our website.
That although you are happy with the frequency of recycling collections from your home, 46% of you are still unhappy with the frequency of household waste collections. There is no planned change to the frequency of household waste collections because this service is working well for the borough and is contributing to our increased recycling targets.
A full report of the results in pdf format (160kb) can be accessed here>>
The annual “Have Your Say” events are open to the public and are your chance to hear how the council sets its budget; its vision for the future; and to meet Havant Borough Council’s Executive Councillors to ask questions about how they run the borough.
Questions will need to be submitted in advance and you will also need to book your place at the event you wish to attend.
For further details on how to submit your question and reserve your place please use this link>> or call the Democratic Services Team 023 9244 6231.