How extreme weather conditions affect Street Scene services

The Street Scene service covers work such as street cleansing, grounds maintenance, tree maintenance, fly tipping and dumped rubbish, graffiti removal, emptying of street litter bins, maintenance of parks, public sports pitches and children's play areas. This page looks at how Street Scene services may be affected during extreme weather conditions.

How our service may be affected?

We will try to carry out services planned but some Street Scene services may be reduced or even stopped during periods of exceptionally bad weather.
Staff may have problems getting to work in exceptionally bad weather, this may have an effect on our services and staff start / finishing times may be altered.
Work priorities may be changed to accommodate emergencies arising from bad weather.
Standard grass cutting services will cease during winter months.
Places around the borough may become inaccessible for our teams during periods of exceptionally bad weather.

Extreme Temperatures

There are some health risks with working in high temperatures. Whilst we support our staff during these periods of high temperatures by providing them with items to help them carry out their duties, high temperatures may cause health risks to our staff.

Some Street Scene services may be reduced or stopped during periods of extreme heat (i.e. while the temp is above 25 degrees C) to protect our workforce.
Staff start / finishing times may be changed to prevent staff working outdoors during the hottest parts of the day.
Work priorities may be changed to allow staff to work in shaded locations rather than full sun.
Strenuous activities (e.g., tree climbing operations) will be postponed.
Extra resources will be applied to watering of our establishing trees, shrubs & bedding plants.

There is also an increased possibility of wildfires starting and spreading. If you do discover a fire contact 999 and provide as much detail as possible. Don’t tackle the fire yourself.

Report overgrown areas on Council land that may be at risk of catching fire:

Tel: 01302 736000 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm)

Tel: 01302 341628 (out of hours)

If you do deem somewhere a potential hazard, please get in touch via the preferred methods above.

Fire Breaks

The cutting of fire breaks will be considered to reduce any potential danger caused by the spread of fires. A Wildfire Risk Assessment and a Wildfire Management Plan (WMP) are being prepared for each site in the Council’s woodland estate.

A fire break would be necessary in:

Any naturalised area that is close to a building/property.
Wild areas (ground vegetation) in parks & woodlands.

grass cut back to create fire breaks

Winter and Winter Gritting

Periods of exceptionally bad snow and ice may have an effect on the areas we are able to get to.

If it is icy and the roads/footpaths are gritted we often suspend road sweeping services.

Some of our staff may be re-allocated from their normal duties to help assist where needed with winter gritting.

Some tree team and grounds maintenance work may be suspended in bad snow and ice conditions.

Please see council page on Winter gritting and snow clearance

High Winds

High winds can cause serious structural damage to property and may bring down trees or branches.

During storm events we may be dealing with a high number of emergency tree reports and we will use the information provided to prioritise calls. People’s lives may be at risk so it is essential that we are able to deal with the most important issues first. The tree team operatives could then be re-assigned from standard tree work to assist with emergency tree work.

trees fallen down on the ground following high winds

Our tree team service offers an emergency 24 hour call out service and will aim to complete an inspection within 2 hours of a report that a tree is dangerous. A tree that may need urgent attention could:

have snapped or blown over.
be split.
be rocking at its base - roots are damaged and the ground is cracking.
have uprooted but is held up by another tree or structure.
have a large branch (>75mm diameter) broken off and hung up within the tree.
be blocking a road, footpath, or access to a property.

Emergency tree work is a high risk activity. While fallen trees due to adverse weather conditions can cause lots of disruption, removing them is complex and dangerous, including the tree moving unexpectedly, or the need to carry out work in difficult conditions and with dangerous equipment. Fallen trees can be unstable and weigh a significant amount. Cutting a branch under tension during clearance activities can have fatal results.

Do not attempt to resolve yourself:

Report a fallen tree on Council land or that has fallen onto the public highway:

Tel: 01302 736000 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm)

Tel: 01302 341628 (out of hours)

Please call emergency tree cases through on the above numbers. Do not report fallen trees online - issues reported online may not be read until the next working day.

Choosing a tree surgeon Anyone who has a tree damaged by high winds on their own property should contact a reputable tree surgeon.

Flooding

In bad periods of heavy and persistent rain, some areas and roads may become flooded. These roads may be closed by our highways department.

Street Scene operatives could then be re-assigned from standard work to assist with emergency work.

Fog

In periods of heavy, thick fog which can cause reduced visibility, we would risk assess work scheduled to make sure it is still safe to do so. Some cases that require traffic management work (such as temporary traffic lights) on high speed roads may be suspended. We would only close footpaths for emergency works in high fog and would try to limit the work carried out in public areas of high footfall.