There is a regular programme of cleansing of the highways, pavements and other council-owned areas, working to a priority system of busy areas and hotspots. Residents are invited to contact the council, or colleagues in Wigan and Leigh Housing and the Leisure and Culture Trust, to report issues of heavy littering, dumping or spillages.
Programme of works
Street cleansing operations across the borough are carried out to a schedule. Fixed routes and any additional work are given to operatives daily. The work is allocated on a priority basis, with town centres gives top priority. There are over a hundred 'litter hot spots' around the borough which are attended to daily. Operatives then clear the main roads, priority estates and residential roads.
Town centre staff clear litter, debris and chewing gum during the course of the day and into the late evening. These operatives also carry out minor repairs to street furniture.
The teams respond immediately to requests for service where there is heavy littering of the highway, footpaths, verges and areas with thick shrubs. They also deal with the dumping of unwanted materials, road traffic accidents, oil spills, discarded syringes and so on.
Main road channels are scheduled to be swept weekly by a mechanical road sweeper. Footpaths on the main roads are scheduled to be swept every 2 weeks by a mechanical footpath sweeper, and footpaths and verges are scheduled to be litter picked weekly by a driver and operative following the same route as the mechanical sweepers.
Priority estates are cleaned to the same frequency as main roads.
Residential road channels are scheduled to be swept every 6 weeks by a mechanical road sweeper. Footpaths are scheduled to be swept every 12 weeks by a mechanical footpath sweeper.
The council’s BEAT IT team deal with clean-up requests from Ward Councillors. In addition to the regular cleansing operations, the BEAT IT team visit every ward four times each year. Their work includes clearing overgrown footpaths, tidying derelict land and an involvement in general environmental improvement work.
Litter bins, other than those in the town centres, are generally serviced by the mobile teams dealing with litter hot spots at least twice a week.
During the autumn leaf fall period there is a need for additional resources to be deployed.
Teams from Wigan and Leigh Housing, and the Leisure and Culture Trust are responsible for cleansing many parts of the borough.
