How Peter aims to clean up South Kesteven
When it comes to handling one of the most visible council functions - that of keeping the district clean and tidy- it helps to have some related industrial experience.
Such is the view of Dr Peter Moseley, South Kesteven District Council’s cabinet member for environment, who has a degree in environmental engineering and a doctorate in social and water engineering.
It all means that rather than being parachuted in to a role he knows nothing about, he has knowledge of the issues at stake, along with contacts who work in a variety of related fields from waste disposal companies, to water firms and the government’s Environment Agency.
But Peter, who has his own small company in Rippingale making weather monitoring equipment, is not afraid to get stuck in and get his hands dirty.
Last Christmas, he did a round with the binmen, something he says boosted his understanding of the work they do, and helped with council decisions affecting the waste collection services.
Combined with business acumen, it all comes together as he strives for better standards of service delivery whilst promising better value for money at what aims to be a commercially-driven council.
Talking to the Journal in the council offices, Peter highlights some of the progress he and the council have made over the past year.
He stresses: “It’s not just about collecting bins and sweeping pavements.”
Peter recalls a recent visit to Harrowby Lane, where since late last year, residents have complained of flooding, believed to be from a spring.
“I took the officers out there. You don’t get a perspective on things unless you go and see people. We have had the driest period in years. Yet we had water gushing out onto the street from these fields.”
He met the locals, finding they weren’t complaining, just accepting their lot. One elderly resident was given sandbags to help protect her home, and Peter pledged to arrange meetings with Anglian Water, the Environment Agency, Lincolnshire County Council’s flood authority and ward councillors to see what could be done.
Peter’s round with the bin men, he continued, “opened my eyes to the breadth of commitment and the really excellent job some of the lowest paid council workers do.”
He praised them for their fitness in carrying the bins and still finding the time for a smile to the public, especially the more lonely, elderly and vulnerable.
“Rumour has it, they are the fittest staff we have. They are really great. We had a bit of banter. They forgot I was a councillor.
“If you are in a position like this, you should get involved. Then you understand about the decisions you are making.”
Such experience helped with a decision over the food waste trial on how caddies are used to collect the waste before emptying.
Peter also credits better relations with other groups, like Lincolnshire County Council, who are involved in the food waste trial and other waste partnerships.
He’s also tasked with driving up higher standards for food hygiene as well as introducing ‘value added’ services for businesses aiming to gain top marks, something for which South Kesteven has one of the highest rates in the country.
“Every aspect of what we do is a skill or product. Some things are statutory but we have an opportunity to sell the advice. We can do that. It’s a very small part of our commercial operation- a bit like pre-application advice for planning applications. Some are employing us to find out what improvements are needed so they go in at a much higher rating when they get their first inspection.”
But keeping the district tidy is a top concern, something which led SKDC to launch its Big Clean campaign last year and also bring the grounds maintenance work back in-house from next March. The current provider Glendale had done a fine job overall, though more recently, councillors reported complaints.
“Outsourcing may be a great idea but in the council’s environmental view, I don’t believe it is the best because the company doing your work is doing it for a profit. A proportion of the money paid is profit and it’s taxpayer’s money.
“Having a service outsourced is inflexible. This was highlighted when the ‘Beast from the East’ came in. We weren’t able to shift any of the grounds maintenance crew without a cost. They would have charged us for shovelling snow so we had the bin men doing this.”
And if ‘climate change’ means for a more extreme climate, Peter believes such flexibility of a council having its own staff to move around like this will be ever more important.
A new way South Kesteven District Council seeks to maintain higher standards of cleanliness, comes under the dramatic title ‘enviro-crime.’
SKDC is recruiting five staff for across the district, who will hand out penalty notices for people who drop litter and similar acts of anti-social behaviour.
In planning how this service would be delivered, SKDC looked at how other council’s did it, finding that outsourced companies ‘make a huge profit while the authorities took the risk’.
“That’s not a good deal. It doesn’t mean we provide the cheapest service. We are starting out from scratch. We are talking about being serious with our neighbourhood teams. This is one tool in our toolbox.”
Peter continues: “We also have an excellent street-cleaning team. We have the ‘higher street standard’ which is a policy we are aiming to maintain. The standard is above the national requirement. We have made our intentions clear about cleanliness. We have done a lot.”
Coupled with other issues, the councillor of just three years, sees this as part of SKDC’s bid to make life better for people living here.
He also refers to how contractual arrangements concerning grass cutting means the district council can keep green spaces well maintained, while verges look tatty, as they are the responsibility of the county council.
The district council is also working with villages in a best kept village competition, helping their volunteers by providing certain equipment, to help them drive higher standards.
It all means a varied role for the father of two young children, who hails from the Black Country originally, but has lived at Rippingale with wife Charlotte for the past nine years.
Peter concluded: “We (SKDC) are never going to please everybody. Some people will disagree but it’s our intention to provide everybody with value for money and to be the best we can.”
