Service Update Report
Renfrewshire Council · 27 May 2026
Back to Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board — 27 May 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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PUBLIC To: Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board On: 27 May 2026 Report by: Director of Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Heading: Service Update Report 1. Summary 1.1 This report provides an overview of key service activities since the last Policy Board report on 18 March 2026 and an update on the services and key projects delivered during this period. 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board: 2.1 Notes the wide range of activities provided in the service update. 2.2 Notes the proposed play park refurbishment and renewal programme for 2026/27 to 2028/29 as detailed in section 5 of the report. 2.3 Notes the public holiday working arrangements for Waste Services and Neighbourhood Services on Sunday 14th June as detailed in section 7 of the report.
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PUBLIC 3. Background 3.1 Environment, Housing & Infrastructure provides essential services to every household in Renfrewshire and works in partnership with the local community, other service areas and Community Planning Partners, to deliver key Council priorities and initiatives. A progress update on the main activities delivered by the services in respect of the areas of activity delegated to this Policy Board, is detailed below. 3.2 Further information and details of service delivery can be found in a number of other reports being presented to the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board today. Updates for Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board 4. Fleet, Roads, and Transportation 4.1 Fleet Services 4.1.1 Fleet Services has recently added 9 new vehicles and fleet assets as part of the Council’s ongoing Vehicle Replacement Programme. The new additions include: 1 x Bucher City Cat V20 Precinct Sweeper – Neighbourhood Services 4 x 3500kgs Nissan Drop Side Pick-ups – 3 x Neighbourhood Services and 1 x Criminal Justice 4 x 3500kgs Nissan Caged Tippers – 3 x Neighbourhood Services and 1 x Criminal Justice 4.1.2 All new vehicles meet the latest Euro 6 emissions standards and can use HVO fuel directly supporting Renfrewshire Council’s sustainability and Net Zero ambitions. Roads & Transportation 4.2 Roundabout Programme 4.2.1 The programme of roundabout improvements for 2026/27continues with 14 planned improvements during this year, these include the A761 Linwood Toll, A761 Linwood Road at Barskiven Road and Kings Inch Road at Laymoor Avenue.
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PUBLIC 4.3 Street Lighting 4.3.1 A new street lighting installation will be completed in June as part of wider carriageway and footway improvements from Lady Lane to outside Paisley Museum prior to the reopening of the new museum later in this financial year. 4.3.2 The streetlighting maintenance team commenced an inspection and testing programme in early April that provides a preventive maintenance regime and identify locations for future capital projects. 4.4 Active Travel & Infrastructure Improvement Update - Red Smiddy, Inchinnan to Erskine Active Travel Route 4.4.1 Work to construct the £1.6million Red Smiddy, Inchinnan to Erskine Active Travel Route continues on programme. Temporary traffic lights will continue to be in operation along the route to ensure the safety of workers and road users and to speed progress along. Completion is expected by the 5th June 2026. 4.5 PRIME motorcycle safety project 4.5.1 Renfrewshire Council, in partnership with Police Scotland, is testing experimental road markings and signs on behalf of Transport Scotland on B790 Houston Road between Houston and Inchinnan Business Park. The road markings aid motorcyclists to position themselves properly for the two sets of double bends on this road, in order to take the bends safely and avoid accidents. Monitoring of the performance of the markings will follow to inform their adoption nationally. 4.6 Villages Safe Walking Initiative 4.6.1 Phase 1 of the Villages Safe Walking Initiative has concluded its second round of consultation with meetings with ward members. Based on the support shown for the proposals, responses will be sent to residents who made comment on the proposals and implementation of the measures will follow in this financial year. 4.7 Haining Road Pedestrian Safety project 4.7.1 After comprehensive traffic studies and consultation with local residents and Renfrew High School, officers are preparing a traffic order to introduce parking controls and plans to install signal-controlled pedestrian crossings on Haining Road and Glebe Street to manage traffic, limit speed and provide school pupils and other pedestrians with a more friendly road environment. The traffic order will be available for public comment shortly.
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PUBLIC 4.8 HRA Roads, Walkways and Footpaths 4.8.1 There is a significant network of unadopted roads, walkways and footpaths held within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) across Renfrewshire which is the responsibility of the housing service in terms of repairs and maintenance. This comprises approximately to 5km of carriageway, 36km of footway, and 27 km of footpath. 4.8.2 Historically, enquiries and complaints relating to roads, walkways and footpaths have been complex for customers, elected members and internal service teams, as the service area responsible for maintenance depends on ownership and adoption status. This has resulted in delays, inconsistent responses, and variation in approaches to inspection, maintenance, and repair. 4.8.3 To improve the service, arrangements have now been made to have all roads inspections and repairs carried out by the Roads team, with Housing Services retaining responsibility for managing the budget and prioritising planned maintenance. 4.8.4 The key advantages of this are: Dedicated officer with expertise in roads, walkways and footpath inspection and maintenance Improved customer services through the streamlining of the management of enquiries and complaints in relation to HRA roads, walkways and footpaths. Earlier identification of safety critical defects and faster progression of urgent repairs Improved condition data to inform the Housing Business Plan and future investment decisions. Delivering the action within the Housing Asset Management Plan; to capture the extent of unadopted HRA assets on GIS and carry out a condition survey to provide a baseline for adding to APEX. Release of capacity within the Housing Repairs and Maintenance team to focus on other core housing repair and maintenance services. 4.8.5 The new arrangements will be subject to ongoing monitoring and review to ensure they continue to deliver improved performance, value for money, and better customer outcomes. 5. Neighbourhood Services 5.1 Play Parks Update 5.1.1 The play park renewal programme for 2025/26 continues to progress with the following work now completed: Campbell Street, Johnstone – play park renewal Lochwinnoch Public Park – installation of a new outdoor gym facility Poplar Avenue, Johnstone – play park renewal Stuart Road, Bishopton – play park renewal
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PUBLIC Ferguslie Gardens (Bottom Play Area), Paisley – play park refurbishment Robertson Park (Main Play Area), Renfrew – part renewal and part refurbishment of the main play park featuring the concrete castle structure Horsewood Road Park, Bridge of Weir – footpaths upgraded 5.1.2 Further planned improvements are currently in progress with works anticipated to be completed by July / August 2026: East Fulton, Linwood – development of a new play park Barshaw Park BMX Track, Paisley – conversion to pump track 5.1.3 Following a recent successful tender exercise, contracts for the following projects were awarded in March 2026 with works expected to begin in Summer 2026: KGV Playing Fields, Renfrew – play park renewal Robertson Park (Craigielea Road), Renfrew – replacement of play park with a small, quiet play and seating area Braehead Road, Glenburn – development of a new play park Poplar Avenue, Johnstone – installation of a new outdoor gym Erskine Skatepark, Erskine – upgrade of footpaths and BMX Track surrounding skatepark 5.1.4 There remains 30 play parks identified for future renewal or refurbishment (excluding those already scheduled in the 2025/26 programme) and 1 play area that has been identified for further development following Renfrewshire Council’s Play Sufficiency Assessment. 5.1.5 The Council agreed, as part of its 2026/27 budget, to invest £2.1 million over the next three years to support the ongoing play parks improvement programme. The remaining renewal, refurbishment and further development works will be carried out over the next three financial years from 2026/27 to 2028/29, as outlined in the table below. The programme prioritises the remaining sites based on current age, condition and community need: 2026/27 Programme Ward Site Name Proposal 1 Robertson Park (Robinia), Renfrew Refurbishment 4 Fountain Gardens, Paisley Renewal 4 Darkwood Crescent, Paisley Renewal 4 Ferguslie Gardens Top Play Area, Paisley Renewal 7 Green Road (Morar Drive - Toddler), Paisley Renewal 8 Elderslie West (Old Road), Elderslie Renewal
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PUBLIC 8 Thomas Shanks Park, Johnstone Refurbishment 11 Lyle Crescent, Bishopton Renewal 12 Millfield Meadows, Erskine Renewal 2027/28 Programme Ward Site Name Proposal 1 Blythswood (North Lodge Road), Renfrew Renewal 2 Knockhill Park (Toddler & Junior), Renfrew Refurbishment 3 Barshaw Park (Robinia), Paisley Refurbishment 7 Spey Avenue, Paisley Renewal 7 Robertson Car Park, Paisley Refurbishment 10 Crosslee Public Park, Crosslee Refurbishment 10 Linwood Skatepark, Linwood Renewal 11 Middlepenny Road, Langbank Refurbishment 2028/29 Programme Ward Site Name Proposal 1 Kirklandneuk Park, Renfrew Refurbishment 2 Knockhill Park (Junior & Senior), Renfrew Refurbishment 3 Ralston, Paisley Refurbishment 4 Fullerton Street, Paisley Refurbishment 7 Gleniffer Court, Paisley Renewal 9 Lochwinnoch Cycle Area, Lochwinnoch Renewal 10 Brookfield Park, Brookfield Refurbishment 10 ON-X, Linwood Refurbishment 10 Kintyre Park, Linwood Refurbishment 10 Craigburn Avenue, Houston Refurbishment 11 Horsewood Road Park, Bridge of Weir Refurbishment 11 Houston Road Park, Bridge of Weir Refurbishment 11 Churchill Drive, Bishopton Further Development 12 Park Mains, Erskine Refurbishment
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PUBLIC 5.1.6 Subject to approval, the consultation period for the 2026/27 programme will begin on 31 May 2026 and will close towards the middle of June. After which, the service will review the responses and prepare tender specifications. It is anticipated that these projects will be completed in early 2027, subject to receiving valid tender bids for each contract. 5.2 Open Space Cyclical Maintenance This year’s seasonal grass cutting programme commenced on 1st April. The service continues its no spraying approach to grass panel edges, with increased use of strimming. Weed control on hard surfaces will be managed through scheduled spraying three times a year between April and September, with additional support from the newly expanded Environmental Impact Team. The hedge cutting programme commenced in October and was completed by the end of April. Scheduled hedge trimming is carried out between May and September across the council area. These works will be carefully assessed and carried out in line with best practice, with due consideration given to the bird nesting season to minimise disturbance to wildlife. 6. Waste Services 6.1 Waste Collection Method Update 6.1.1 The Service has been providing updates to the board since May 2025 on waste collection improvements to provide a better, more reliable service to Renfrewshire residents and help increase recycling . Here is a summary of what’s been delivered so far: Recycling Improvement Funding from Zero Waste Scotland enabled us to promote food waste recycling to 80,000 homes, improve recycling facilities at 8,140 flats and extend food and garden waste recycling to 6000 more homes. Website developments provide Renfrewshire residents with new ways to access their bin collection information, including online and downloadable pdf calendars and iCalendar, to add collection dates to mobile phones and tablets. There has been 150,000 check my bin day postcode searches, 46,000 pdf calendar downloads and 18,470 iCalendar downloads (November 2025 to March 2026). Residents can also register for collection reminder emails, with 13,625 people receiving these. We also continue to provide printed collection calendars on request for people who need this. The process to report a missed bin has been strengthened and better integrated with online information, reducing inaccuracies and providing a more effective customer service.
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PUBLIC New route management software and in-cab technology is driving improvements. It’s being used to identify the most effective and efficient collection routes and in-cab technology lets collection crews report any issues in real-time, the information available to Customer Services to respond better to enquiries. We’ve moved 10,400 households onto two bin collection days. This operational change is called decoupling. These homes have a collection day for their grey bin for general waste and a collection day for their recycling bins. It means households only need to present one bin on their collection day and fewer bins on the pavement, making it easier for people to get around. It enables us to provide a more reliable service, with crews collecting the same colour bin from a larger area each day, helping them stay on schedule and reduce potential for missed bins. Collection vehicles are on the most efficient route, reducing emissions and fuel costs. Next Steps 6.1.2 Waste Services have been using the route management software to assess current waste collection routes and identify the most effective approach to complete kerbside collections. From September 2026, we’re expanding the rollout of the decoupling collection method to all Renfrewshire households with a kerbside bin collection, and our collection crews will be collecting the same colour of bin across all of Renfrewshire in the same week. Each household will present one bin per collection days: a day for the grey general waste bin (every 3 weeks, as per current frequency) a day for either the green, brown or blue recycling bin (blue & green 4 weekly & brown 2 weekly, as per current frequency) Example Collection Schedule: Week 1 Green Bin Uplift Week 2 Brown Bin Uplift Week 3 Blue Bin Uplift Week 3* Grey Bin Uplift Week 4 Brown Bins Uplift *Grey Bins will run separately and will be uplifted every 3 weeks approx. 2 days after a recycling collection. In this example it could be the same week as the Blue Bin uplift in Week 3. 6.1.3 How often we collect each bin is not changing, except for approx. 1,400 homes in rural and narrow access locations who we are able to move onto our standard collection frequency. 6.1.4 Arrangements like Assisted Collections, medical collections or food caddy collections are continuing as normal. 6.1.5 Collection crews will also be using new routes and collection days to empty bulk bins at 8,850 flats and high-rise residential buildings and to empty commercial customer bins.
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PUBLIC 6.1.6 We will assist households by providing information regarding the changes supported by awareness raising marketing activity. Elected Members will be invited to information sessions after the summer recess to provide full information on the changes, how we will support householders and will provide an opportunity to ask questions. 6.2 Linwood (Vans, Trailers & Pickups) Household Waste Recycling Centre Booking System 6.2.1 Waste Services are progressing the procurement and implementation of a new off the shelf booking system to replace the current permit based system used for larger vehicles (vans, trailers, and pick-ups) at Linwood Household Recycling Centre. The existing system has reached the end of its lifespan, becoming increasingly inefficient and difficult to maintain. The new platform will enhance operational efficiency, improve user experience, and support increased recycling performance. 6.2.2 Waste Services are working closely with ICT and the Digital Experience team to integrate the new system with’ existing platforms and update all relevant information on the Council’s website regarding larger vehicles bookings. Implementation of the new booking system is planned for autumn 2026, and further updates will be provided at a future Board meeting. 7. Public Holiday for the Football World Cup 7.1 As approved at Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board, on 23rd April 2026, Renfrewshire Council has designated Monday 15th June 2026 as a national bank holiday to celebrate Scotland’s participation in the FIFA Men’s World Cup. This was confirmed through Royal Proclamation on the 4 February 2026. 7.2 Taking the above into consideration, the Service approached the Trade Unions to discuss whether operational services would prefer to have Sunday 14th June as the day off, allowing employees to take the day off in line with the arrangement for most Council employees on the Monday. The Trade Unions consulted with their full-time officials and have confirmed that this is the most sensible approach and agreed the change of days. 7.3 This will mean that there will no waste collection, street cleaning or grass cutting services delivered on Sunday 14th of June. Services scheduled for this date will be rescheduled to either the preceding day or the days following Sunday 14th June. Residents with waste collections due on Sunday 14th June will receive notification confirming their revised collection arrangements. 7.4 The HWRC’s will also be closed on Sunday 14th of June, additional staff will be deployed to support service delivery on Monday 15th June. Normal service will resume on Monday morning at their usual operating times.
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PUBLIC 8. Disposal of Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (WUDS) 8.1 Since 1 February 2024, Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (WUDS), including sofas and armchairs must not be landfilled due to the presence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and must instead be incinerated in line with national regulations. 8.2 Renfrewshire Council accepts WUDS at Linwood Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) only, with materials processed by a contractor prior to incineration. Operational issues with the contractor resulted in a temporary suspension of WUDS acceptance at Linwood HWRC from 8th May to 18th May. This also resulted in a pause to WUDS collections within special uplifts and fly-tipping clearances containing WUDS. 8.3 All other waste streams at Linwood HWRC, as well as special uplifts and fly-tipping clearances not involving WUDS, continued as normal during this period. Services have now fully resumed. 9. #YouDecide 9.1.1 Improvements works at the Barrangary and Chestnut roundabouts in Bishopton have been completed with a horse sculpture installed at Chestnut roundabout and a tree sculpture on Barrangary roundabout. Neighbourhood Services have also planted wildflowers on both roundabouts. 9.1.2 The following projects remain in progress. Individual completion reports will be submitted as each project is finalised: Roundabout improvement schemes in Kilbarchan and Renfrew Activity/Heritage trails in Inchinnan and Kilbarchan Car park and path improvements at Gleniffer Braes
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PUBLIC Implications of the Report 1. Financial – Any financial elements referenced in this report will be progressed through the Council’s financial & budget planning process. 2. HR & Organisational Development – None 3. Community/Council Planning – The report details a range of activities which reflect local community and council planning themes. 4. Legal – None 5. Property/Assets – None 6. Information Technology – None 7. Equality & Human Rights - The recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored. 8. Health & Safety – None 9. Procurement – None 10. Risk – None 11. Privacy Impact – None 12. Climate Change – there are a range of actions and activities throughout the Service Update Report which support the Council’s Plan for Net Zero. 13. Children’s Rights – None 14. COSLA Policy Position – None List of Background Papers: None Author: Gordon McNeil, Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure Email: Gordon.mcneil@renfrewshire.gov.uk