Bella dons a hi-vis and joins our recycling crew
Council leader Bella Sankey has made another visit to the city’s waste and recycling service as part of the council’s work to support staff at the depot and understand the frontline service challenges.
Bella joined one of the council’s hard-working recycling crews last Wednesday (7 February) and helped collect and unload communal and residents’ bins to gain first-hand experience of what frontline staff face on a daily basis.
Bella’s now spent time with the customer services team answering residents’ calls, been part of the street cleansing crew and now the recycling team.
Regular meeting with staff
She and other leading councillors have also had regular meetings with senior managers, managers, supervisors and frontline staff from across CityClean’s operations to understand how all parts of Cityclean operates and ensure progress to overhaul the service continues.
The visits are taking place in the wake of the independent report into Cityclean by King's Counsel Aileen McColgan which highlighted a culture of racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying and violence.
Bella said: “It’s extremely important for me to get to know every part of the Cityclean service, including the staff and the work they do, to ensure I understand the challenges staff face and how I can help drive the changes that are taking place and those that still need to happen.”
Being shown the ropes
In a video of the latest visit, Bella says: “I've just been out on a recycling round this morning and went with a really excellent crew who showed me the ropes.
“They showed me how to operate at the back of a lorry and to how load a recycling bin. I managed to load a few of them. It was really, really enjoyable.”
Despite the rain, Bella says it was ‘a really good experience working with a really hard working and dedicated team’.
She adds: “I went out a few weeks ago with our streets team and again incredibly hard working. I was amazed by the amount of heavy lifting that has to go on.
Fly-tipping of bulky waste a problem
“There was a huge amount of bulky waste that was left abandoned, often at our communal bins, and the huge amount of work and effort that goes into clearing it each day around the city.
“So really good to be back at the depot. speaking to staff and seeing all the excellent work that they do.”
Arrangements are now being made for Bella to spend a shift with one of the crews that collect and empty communal and residents’ waste bins.