ILE Service Update Report
Renfrewshire Council · 22 January 2025
Back to Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board — 22 January 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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_________________________________________________________________________ To: Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board On: 22 January 2025 _________________________________________________________________________ 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 6 November 2024 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 content of this report. 2.2 Approve the fees and charges for the next 3 years detailed in section 9.1.3 of this report. _________________________________________________________________________ 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. _________________________________________________________________________
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Updates for Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board 4. Climate Change 4.1 Energy Management District Heating Network feasibilities 4.1.1 The Energy team are in the process of appointing technical, financial and legal advisors for the development of Outline Business Cases for the two identified heat network opportunities, to fully assess the viability of the proposed projects for Paisley Central and the potential extension to the existing AMIDS district heating network. As part of the projects a commercial workshop will take place with stakeholders from both project areas and all key client departments. 4.1.2 Advisors have been appointed, with the initial meeting taken place in early January with the Outline Business Case expecting to be concluded by May 2025. ECO4 Flex 4.1.3 Energy efficiency measures being installed within Renfrewshire include boilers, loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, air source heat pumps, solar panels, heating controls, first time central heating etc. 4.1.4 The table below highlights the savings ECO4 Flex has achieved to date based on annually recurring savings: Financial Year Value of Grant Funding Requested (£) Total Annual Consumption Saving (kW) Total Annual CO2 Saving in Kg Total Annual Cost Saving (£) 2023/24 £3,583,940 1,310,162 648,617 £231,789 2024/25 £2,230,835 1,076,481 348,833 £122,936 Total £5,814,775 2,386,643 997,450 £354,725 4.2 Carbon Literacy Training 4.2.1 Local Authority Leadership and Management in Carbon Literacy training is being rolled out across the Council. This training is delivered in-house and is primarily based at Managers and Team Leaders. The training uses a toolkit produced by the Carbon Literacy Project specifically for Local Authorities and is part of large-scale certified education programme with over 111,000 individuals having undergone the training across various sectors in total.
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4.2.2 The training covers a basic overview on the climate emergency, causes and impacts and explores why local authorities should act and the Council’s levers of influence; providing leadership in the climate emergency; how climate action can be integrated into decision making; co-benefits of climate action; and examples of how we can fund climate action. 4.2.3 To date, 93 Council Officers have undertaken the training from across all Services, with further training sessions being scheduled for 2025. 5. Community Development 5.1 Team Up to Clean Up 5.1.1 The Annual Winter Warriors Campaign, under the Team up to Clean Up banner, promoted the availability of a Community Winter Maintenance kit. A limited number of salt/grit spreaders, together with a snow shovel, warm, waterproof gloves, and 2x25kg bags of salt were issued to volunteers after requests were received for receipt of these kits. Active Team Up to Clean Up members were prioritised having already demonstrated their commitment to their neighbourhoods. Efforts were further made where possible to distribute evenly across towns and villages. This year’s spreaders are compatible with the grit within in Renfrewshire’s own stocked grit bins. 5.1.2 A Santa Dash Litterpick was delivered by pupils of Gleniffer High School who cleaned up the area surrounding their school, including Durrockstock Dam. 5.2 Environmental Taskforce 5.2.1 The Environmental Taskforce continues to deliver intervention to reduce instances of flytipping. Key statistics for the most recent period are found below. January & February will be offered in the next cycle: Action November - December Proactive visits to identified hotspot areas 137 Number of reports investigated 264 Tonnes of flytipping removed 41.25 Letters to private landowners re flytipping 6 Visits to businesses to ensure Waste Disposal Arrangements in place 8 Fixed Penalty Notices Issued 1
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5.2.2 New Taskforce tape, replacing Team Up to Clean Up tape, is now being used by the Taskforce to demonstrate incidences of flytipping are already under investigation. This tape is more eye-catching and better demonstrates the criminality and seriousness of the act of flytipping. 6 Fleet, Roads, and Transportation Fleet Services 6.1 Ren Zero Sustainable Transport Project 6.1.1 The Fleet Service are working in partnership with the Climate Change Team to launch the Ren Zero Working Group to work towards Net Zero Emissions by 2030. The aim of the working group is to identify opportunities to implement sustainable travel when carrying out Council business but also to support employees travelling sustainably more generally. 6.2 Fleet Investment 6.2.1 The Council has continued to invest in our operational fleet and 3 new 26T RCVs with the latest Euro 6 engines were delivered in December 2024. These vehicles will replace 3 of our older collection vehicles which will be removed from our fleet. 6.2.2 In October, the service secured a trial of an 18tonne narrow track collection vehicle that will allow waste services to access areas that have restricted access due to narrow streets, parked cars, and other obstructions. During the trial period the vehicle demonstrated that it was able to access difficult to access properties better than our current fleet of 26 tonne vehicles. Following the successful trial the service has started the procurement process to purchase one of these vehicles to enhance the Waste Services operational fleet. Due to procurement and then delivery time this vehicle is likely to arrive on fleet around October 2025, in the meantime the service has hired a vehicle of the same specification. 6.3 Investment in Staff 6.3.1 The Fleet Service are working with operational services to coordinate several employee training schemes which provide valuable up-skilling opportunities for staff, improves service resilience, and promotes a positive culture of compliance. These include:
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• Heavy Goods Vehicle Driver Training for 12 employees • Driver CPC training for all HGV and PSV drivers • Security of Load Training for all HGV drivers • Drivers daily check training • MOT/Taxi Tester training for our 6 dedicated taxi testers Roads & Transportation 6.4 Roads Capital Investment Programme 6.4.1 To date we have resurfaced 43 carriageways, with some roads remaining to be completed as follows: Mill Street To complete in March 2025 Old Mill Road Requires drainage works in advance, delayed to 2025/26 programme Broomlands Street Delayed to allow upgrade of traffic signals, capital programme 2025/26 Hamilton Street Delayed due to conflicts with other works in the area. In addition, there are 5 locations due for resurfacing, where coal tar was detected during testing (Bonar Crescent, Montrose Road, Floorsburn Crescent, Harelaw Crescent and Ivanhoe Road). These locations will be treated using a re-tread method where the existing surface is broken down and mixed with retread emulsion, prior to compaction. These schemes will be completed in March and April 2025. 6.4.2 The footway resurfacing programme commenced in November 2024 and will run to March 2025. There are 12 footways included in the programme with Lochfield Drive, Lochfield Road, Rowan Street, Netherhill Way, Ben Ledi Avenue, Bruce Road and Lansbury Gardens completed. 6.4.3 The service is currently reviewing the capital investment program for 2025/26. Any schemes delayed in 2024/25 will be delivered from funds carried forward from the current programme. 6.5 Winter Resilience Update 6.5.1 As part of the council’s Ready for Winter campaign, gritting teams cover main roads across Renfrewshire on a risk-based priority basis to ensure the road network is maintained, with more than 4500 tonnes of grit stored at our Operational Depot at Underwood Road. 6.5.2 There are 540 grit bins across Renfrewshire. The Council’s website provides key information to residents about the Council’s response during severe weather. It also contains the locations for grit bins and community grit bins in Renfrewshire.
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6.5.3 The service commenced winter resilience arrangements on the 1 October 2024, and this will run through until May 2025. To the 6th of January 2025, the Winter Maintenance programme has used a cumulative total of 1,750 tons of salt gritting Renfrewshire roads. The service has gritted primary network routes 56 times and our secondary network on 17 occasions. 6.5.4 During the week to 6th January, we used 790 tonnes of salt with gritting teams working around the clock to keep Renfrewshire moving throughout this recent winter period. 6.5.5 Neighbourhood services have been treating town centre footways during the extended period of freezing weather in early January and were also treating footway routes to schools for schools returning. Our Building Services team treat footways at Council Care Homes and Sheltered Accommodation to protect vulnerable residents during cold and icy periods. 6.5.6 Renfrewshire experienced significant snow and rainfall during November 2024 and our teams responded immediately to ensure that the priority road network remained operational. Actions were taken in line with our policies and emergency procedures, including round the clock gritting, and clearing of gullies and grids to keep the public safe and minimise damage to property. 6.6 Active Travel & Infrastructure Improvement Update 6.6.1 Work to introduce pedestrian safety traffic calming measures in Renfrewshire’s villages continues. Consultation with Kilbarchan Community Council and local residents, following implementation of gateway measures, has flagged up a number of issues, which we are currently working to resolve. Gateway features have also been implemented in Howwood. 6.6.2 The statutory consultation on proposed speed humps on Tandlehill Road, Shuttle Street and Low Barholm has been published and responses awaited before finalising and installation. In agreement with Howwood Community Council, the first two gateway features and uncontrolled pedestrian crossing have been installed on Main Street. Calming measures on Bowfield Road at Bowfield Hotel have been instructed. The speed hump consultation on Midton Road raised the requirement for an extra hump. Work to install them all continues. 6.6.3 Junction safety improvements at A726/Kilpatrick Drive, Erskine are complete. This will improve the visibility for drivers joining the main road, prevent dangerous overtaking and improve the capacity of this side road junction. 6.6.4 An innovative triangular layout of speed calming cushions has been installed at the Kelvin Avenue/Huntly Road cross-roads, Hillington, together with road markings to narrow the junction and help prevent speed related side swipe collisions.
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6.6.5 Initial engagement on the second phase of the villages pedestrian safety traffic calming project has concluded, and we are working on concept designs for Lochwinnoch, Bishopton, Elderslie and Bridge of Weir. An online survey and workshops have gathered information to inform of the issues being experienced in these villages, assisting with the design of potential measures. Local communities will be invited to provide feedback on the proposals in early 2025. 6.6.6 The next phase of our Active Travel network is now anticipated to be the link between Red Smiddy Roundabout and Erskine via Southholm Roundabout, however progress on this phase will be dependent on the award of Transport Scotland funding in 25/26, in light of the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund, which was not forthcoming in 24/25 as expected. Wider aspirations now include an extension of the current Active Travel network to Inchinnan Industrial Estate. 6.6.7 The construction of the bus turning circle at Linburn Road in Erskine has been completed. The project involved the construction of a retaining wall, to facilitate a bus turning loop and footway. This will significantly improve the turnaround for bus services in this area, resulting in greater public transport efficiencies for the community. SPT Capital funding, announced for 2024/25, allocated £165,000 for this Category 1 project, seen by SPT as operationally essential. 6.6.8 The Paisley to Renfrew active travel route, including upgraded shared footways and carriageway improvements at Wright Street, is now complete. The housing developer has completed the final surfacing of the ramp connecting Turner Drive and Wright Street. The final internal roads to be resurfaced are ongoing. 6.6.9 Feasibility work at Maxwellton Road continues, with the aim to encourage more active trips to school in the future, by combining use of the national cycle route 75 with the possibility of a safe pedestrian/cycle crossing. Options are currently being examined. 6.6.10 Our programme to upgrade existing Traffic Signal junctions to energy efficient technologies continues with an upgrade to the three Barrochan Road/A737 junctions in Johnstone. A right turn arrow has been installed at Arkleston Road/Glasgow Road, to compliment that on Hawkhead Road, to assist with peak hour traffic. 6.6.11 Road safety improvements to the Glebe Street/ Hairst Street, Renfrew traffic signal junction is complete and now prevent abuse of the lane discipline which was causing hazardous conditions. 6.6.12 Design work on the Bishopton to West Ferry shared cycle/foot path was presented for consultation, with stakeholders inputting to the finalised design prior to completion of the tender package. This will be issued to market next financial year, funding permitting.
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6.6.13 Works have completed to stabilise a 100m section of the Erskine Clyde Walkway ensuring the ongoing use of this well used recreational path. The path enhancement works on the core path between Freeland Drive, Inchinnan and Greenock Road (widening, streetlighting and installation of a handrail) completed this week. 6.6.14 We have commissioned a consultant for the appraisal of the riverside core path between the Bascule Bridge, Renfrew, and the new Renfrew Bridge. A high-level option/cost estimate to potentially upgrade the existing route will be considered. With the opening of the Renfrew Bridge with its active travel links it is anticipated to have more users in the area. 6.7 Asset Management and Works Scheduling software 6.7.1 Roads and Transportation team have been working extensively with Digital Development and Customer Service teams for the implementation of an upgraded Asset and Works Management software in December 2024. This mobile software application provides a fully integrated Asset and Works Management solution for Road Operations, Structures and Street Lighting teams. 6.7.2 The software delivers several benefits including mobile working for operational staff; allowing Customer Service teams to report issues directly to Road Operations and Lighting teams; providing Roadwork Coordinators on-site access to information to assess issues on our Roads and Infrastructure network and also for Road Operations and Street Lighting teams to record and update works providing real-time feedback to Customer Service teams. Training for staff has been provided by the Software provider and Digital Development team. 6.8 Elderslie for Everyone Project 6.8.1 The Elderslie for Everyone Project provides an opportunity to re-imagine Main Road, making it a more vibrant, accessible, and welcoming place for people to spend time in and travel through. We are working in partnership with Sustrans and the local community to put the people who use the space at the heart of designing the solution. 6.8.2 To date, design objectives have been defined, with input from the community and Renfrewshire Council, which will inform the concept design. The project team is collaborating with the Renfrewshire Villages Safe Walking Initiative to ensure alignment and avoid duplication. Stakeholder engagement focused on businesses and people with protected characteristics is ongoing. 6.8.3 Draft concept designs were completed in December, and this will be followed by approval from Renfrewshire Council, elected members, community advisory group, and stakeholders. Public consultation on the concept designs is scheduled for February 2025. Dates will be publicised in early 2025. 6.8.4 Initial reviews of the concept design has taken place by Renfrewshire Council Environment, Housing, and Infrastructure department.
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6.8.5 The next stages of engagement will be seeking approval to progress to detailed design by elected members, Renfrewshire Access Panel, the project’s community advisory group, stakeholders, then the wider community. 6.8.6 The project is on-track to have full concept designs completed by March 2025, with additional collaborative design sessions to be arranged following issue of the concept designs. 6.9 Parking Strategy 6.9.1 Work continues on the National Pavement Parking ban, and the Renfrewshire Exemption Order identifying where parking will be allowed on the footway, has undergone its consultation process. Suggestions for more exempted locations have been received and another consultation process has begun for a follow-up Exemption Order. The first in a likely series of reports has been submitted to this meeting of the Board for consideration. 6.10 Street lighting Capital Investment Programme 6.10.1 A new street lighting installation for Easwald Bank, Kilbarchan will commence on site in February 2025, after the festive lights have been removed. In addition, in November 2024, over 150 new lanterns in Renfrew Town Centre were replaced with modern LED equivalents, this has made a great difference to the lighting levels in Renfrew Town Centre. 6.10.2 As part of our Street Lighting Column replacement programme, 89 five and six metre lighting columns have been replaced in residential areas. In addition, 59 eight and ten metre columns have also been replaced. The programme is now concentrating on installing new cable loops in residential locations to fix long standing dark areas. These works require excavations, new cabling, and re-instatement. Once complete, these contracts will have addressed the backlog of dark areas on our streetlighting network. 6.10.3 It is anticipated at the current time that the works outlined above will be completed ahead of Summer 2025. 6.10.4 In order to address some longstanding issues with the lighting network arrangements have been made for the Council to have regular engagement sessions with Scottish Power in order to address issues raised in a more efficient manner. 6.11 Renfrew Bridge Update 6.11.1 Commissioning and Testing works are now ongoing as the project reaches the final phases of construction. The Operational Team are now all in post and will shadow the Bridge Contractor throughout all the testing before the Council take ownership for the future Operation and Maintenance of the opening bridge that connects Renfrew to Yoker.
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7. Neighbourhood Services 7.1 Arterial Routes 7.1.1 The service has launched a new arterial routes programme, starting with pilot projects on Renfrew Road, Barrhead Road, and Hurlet Road in October. Following the success of these pilots, a dedicated team has been established to operate from December to March focusing on improving soft landscaping and managing vegetation growth along arterial routes. Areas completed over December and January include Linwood Road, Linclive Roundabout and Paisley Road. 7.1.2 As these routes serve as key entry and exit points for Renfrewshire, priority is given to tasks such as sign cleaning, weed removal, silt clearance, and grass panel maintenance. 7.2 Proactive Tree Management 7.2.1 As part of the newly developed proactive tree management approach, the service has been collaborating with colleagues in education to survey all school premises. This work is being addressed on a cluster-by-cluster basis, with inspections conducted at each school and reactive tree works completed based on the inspection programme. This structured approach ensures the effective management of trees within the school estate. 7.3 Play Parks Compliance 7.3.1 The Council’s Gymnasia Squad conducts proactive inspections and maintenance of play areas, outdoor gyms, skateparks, and pump tracks, with all members of staff responsible for inspections being certified by RoSPA. Routine inspections, aligned with BS EN 1176 standards, are carried out based on site usage, vandalism history, and equipment type. 7.3.2 Additionally, an external inspection programme by independent contractors ensures the reliability of internal checks. External inspections were carried out in October and any defects highlighted have been promptly resolved, supporting the Council’s commitment to safe, inclusive play spaces. 7.4 Play Park Renewal 7.4.1 A tender exercise was concluded in December 2024, and contracts awarded for the renewal of 3 play parks to be completed in financial year 2024/25. These play parks are: Barshaw Laura’s Playpark, Paisley; Braids Road, Paisley; and Elm Drive/Maple Drive, Johnstone. It is anticipated that the installations should be completed by around late March / April 2025.
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7.4.2 Consultation is set to commence January / February for play parks to receive investment in financial year 2025/26. These sites include: Robertson Park Main Play Area, Renfrew; Barshaw Park BMX, Paisley; Ferguslie Gardens Bottom Play Area, Paisley; Braehead Road, Paisley; Poplar Avenue, Johnstone; Campbell Street, Johnstone; East Fulton, Linwood, and Stuart Road, Bishopton. It is currently anticipated that these play parks will be completed late in 2025, dependent on the outcome of a tender exercise scheduled for May / June 2025. 7.5 Cemeteries Update New Policy Document 7.5.1 A report is being presented to the ILE Board today requesting members to approve the new Cemetery Management Policy. 7.5.2 A petition submitted on memorial safety within cemeteries was heard at Renfrewshire Council’s Petitions Board in November 2024. There were no specific recommendations from the petitions board, however points within the petition have been taken into consideration when developing the new Cemetery Management Policy detailed later in the agenda for consideration. 7.6 Remembrance Sunday 7.6.1 The service completed all preparatory work across all memorial sites in advance of the Remembrance Sunday proceedings. This included the removal of vegetation, thorough cleaning of memorials, clearing leaf debris, and ensuring the overall presentation of the sites. Additionally, mechanical sweepers were deployed to clear debris and leaf fall along key routes where feasible. 8. Waste Services 8.1 Recycling Improvement Fund Update 8.1.1 Phase 1 of the Recycling Improvement Fund (RIF) which aims to increase participation and recycling of food waste by applying a ‘no food waste’ sticker to grey bins and delivery of an annual supply of food waste liners is complete. Roll out of phase 1 to 80,468 households began on Monday 21 October and was completed on Sunday 8 December. 8.1.2 To encourage food waste recycling, internal food waste caddies were provided free of charge, upon request. To date, the service received 1,790 requests for internal food waste caddies between October and December 2024. 8.1.3 Phase 2 of the Recycling Improvement Funded projects is due to commence in February 2024. This phase aims to improve food waste recycling at communal properties by installing communal food waste bins with restricted lids to prevent contamination, delivering a package of recycling containers including an internal food waste caddy, annual supply of food waste liners, and supplying a reusable bag to help residents transport their recycling to external communal recycling bins.
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8.1.4 Affected households will receive communication explaining the service prior to delivery of any new infrastructure. 8.2 Route Optimisation Software and In-Cab Technology 8.2.1 Following a competitive procurement process, approval was granted at the Finance, Resources & Customer Services Policy Board held on 21 November 2024 to award the Route Optimisation and In-cab Technology Contract to Bartec Municipal Technologies Limited. Work is ongoing to complete and agree the Contract documentation with an anticipated award date by end of January 2025. A full implementation plan will be agreed with the new supplier and an update provided at the next Board. 8.3 Extended Producer Responsibility 8.3.1 The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) provided an update to all Local Authorities on 28 November 2024 with regards to Extended Producer Responsibility payments due to be made between October and December 2025, to cover the net costs of collecting, managing, recycling, and disposing of household packaging waste. 8.3.2 The update included a cost assessment and an estimate of what the basic payment will be for the first year of the scheme. In addition to this, guidance about the method used to calculate the payment estimate and a schedule for payments being made was provided. 8.3.3 In the first year (April 2025 to March 2026) Local Authorities will receive a basic payment based on: • publicly available and existing data, including WasteDataFlow information and Office of National Statistics (ONS) data • data about tonnages, operations and unit costs gathered from a representative sample of LAs across the UK From the second year (April 2026 to March 2027) the basic payment and any adjustments will be based on data LAs submit to the Scheme Administrator, who will then assess the Council based on a number of ‘effectiveness’ measures. 8.3.4 The Scheme Administrator will deliver a series of workshops in the new year to present further detail on the effectiveness measures and Improvement Action Process. Officers will continue to engage with the process to understand the impacts to the Council. 8.3.5 An updated assessment notice is expected in April 2025, which may include revisions based on feedback and queries from Local Authorities.
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9. Garden Waste 9.1 Garden Waste Permit – Fee Strategy 9.1.1 The Council introduced a permit scheme for the collection of garden waste in July 2023 at a cost of £40 per permit, per brown bin. A garden waste collection service is not a statutory service local authorities require to provide. This is an optional service for households who wish their garden waste to be collected. Households recycling food waste only in their brown bins can continue to do so free of charge. Garden waste can also be disposed of for free at household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) in Renfrewshire. 9.1.2 The introduction of a permit fee has reduced the financial subsidy the Council funds to provide this service, reducing the subsidy by around 85% over the last 2 years. The cost of providing the service continues to rise and is expected to rise significantly in 2026. This is because the disposal cost of garden waste based on our soft market testing and what other local authorities who have recently retendered their contract arrangements pay, will rise significantly. The proposals set out in the paragraph below would move the Council to a position of recovering the costs of providing this discretionary service over the next 3 financial years, reducing the impact on the council’s financial sustainability over the medium term in order to maintain the service for communities. 9.1.3 The table below sets out the proposed garden waste permit fee for the next 3 financial years. Permit Year Permit Fee Year 1 – 2025/26 £47 Year 2 – 2026/27 £52 Year 3 – 2027/28 £57 10. #YouDecide 10.1.1 Work continues on #YD projects with the recent installation of a wheeled sports area in Moss Road Park Bridge of Weir. Lighting improvements along the stretch of the A760 Lochwinnoch from the train station to Lochlip Road have been completed. Additionally work to replace the stairs at South Street Park, Houston are also completed giving full accessible access to the park. 10.1.2 Lighting columns have been installed in Kintyre Park Linwood, Millfield View path, Erskine, Kilbarchan Park and Lochwinnoch Park and are awaiting Scottish Power connections with all other #YD lighting works complete.
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10.1.3 The procurement process for design, supply, and installation of sculptures for Barrangary and Chestnut roundabouts, Bishopton and Easwald Bank roundabout Kilbarchan is underway with proposals from companies due to be returned 24th January 2025. It is anticipated that these projects will complete towards the end of 2025. Resurfacing works on Renfrew Road/Arkleston Road roundabout are due to start February 2025 and a plan for improvements to Glasgow Road/Kingsinch Road roundabout will follow. 10.1.4 Work to improve paths and signage in Gleniffer country park is ongoing as is information and interpretation boards for the villages of Inchinnan and Kilbarchan. These projects should be complete by Autumn 2025. 11. EV Charging Infrastructure Update 11.1.1 Glasgow City Region has secured £3.5 million funding to accelerate the delivery of public Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. Eight councils including Renfrewshire Council across Glasgow City Region have secured funding from Transport Scotland to support the acceleration of new electric vehicle chargepoints. The funding, and a new collaboration agreement in place with the local councils on the expansion of the local EV charging network, should see over 3,000 additional chargepoints installed over the coming years. 11.1.2 These new chargepoints will be delivered by a private sector operator, appointed by the councils, and include a mixture of charging speeds, installed across the City Region. The scale of the opportunity to deliver an expansion of the charging network across the eight council areas represents an attractive market offering and should bring benefits to residents in communities throughout the City Region. 11.1.3 Over the coming months the eight councils will be working intensively to scope the shape of proposal that will go to the market, with the goal of enabling a comprehensive network of EV charging across the region. This includes widening access to chargepoints for the thousands of people who live in flats and can’t charge at home, as well as providing chargepoints in areas that typically may not be attractive to the private sector, enabling a more just transition zero emission forms of transport. 11.1.4 The eight local councils are East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, and West Dunbartonshire Council. 12 Festive Lights 2024 12.1 The festive lights programme for 2024 completed as planned with our officers providing support to Christmas light testing, installations, and switch on events across 15 locations in Renfrewshire. _________________________________________________________________________
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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. COSLA Policy Position – None 13. Children’s Rights - None 14. Climate Change – there are a range of actions and activities throughout the Service Update Report which support the Council’s Plan for Net Zero. _________________________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers: None _________________________________________________________________________ Author: Gordon McNeil, Director of Environment, Housing & Infrastructure Email: Gordon.mcneil@renfrewshire.gov.uk