THE COUNCIL has signed a new street cleaning contract to improve the look and feel of the borough.
Urbaser — which already provides street cleaning services in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead — began work on Wednesday, April 1.
Cleaning work has been happening in Lower Earley, focused around Hawkedon Primary.
School and housing estate entrances, as well as along major roads, have all been identified as areas for increased work.
Urbaser’s work includes a combination of mechanical and manual street and open space cleaning; cleaning public car parks and subways; removing fly tipping; and cleaning up for special events.
The company is subcontracted by VolkerHighways, the council’s highways and transport maintenance and construction contractor. The contract will last for six years.
Cllr Parry Batth, executive member for environment at the borough council, said: “We know how important it is to our residents to see the borough is well looked after, especially in key areas such as around schools and at the entrances to residential areas.
“Staff from Urbaser have really hit the ground running with works across our area and I look forward to seeing the high standards sustained for years to come.”
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport at the borough council, said: “Providing this service through our existing highways contractor VolkerHighways has helped us transition to the new provider almost seamlessly.
“It will also increase efficiency in the years ahead for our roads and pavements, as highway maintenance and highway cleansing are naturally linked services.”
The new contract with Urbaser also includes:
- A new fleet of vehicles
- Grade A standard for sweeping litter on all adopted roads, footways, traffic islands and cycleways
- Assurance that all litter bins are emptied on time and that fly tipping is removed within set timescales
- Easy monitoring of: scheduled sweeping, litter bin emptying, highway herbicide treatment and fly tipping removal
