Operational Performance Report

Renfrewshire Council · 31 August 2022
Back to Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board — 31 August 2022 and its agenda

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To:  Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board 
On: 31 August 2022 
Report by: Director of Environment & Infrastructure and 
Heading: Operational Performance Report 
1. Summary 
1.1 This report provides an overview of key service activities since the last Policy Board
report on 15 June 2022 and an operational performance update on the services and
key projects delivered during this period. 
1.2 Operational Services have continued on a ‘business as usual’ basis while working
within Covid-19 restrictions.  All required safety measures are in place and are now
well established. 
2. Recommendations 
It is recommended that the Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board: 
2.1 Approves the operational performance update detailed within this report. 
3. Background 
3.1 Environment & 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 within Environment
& Infrastructure, in respect of the areas of activity delegated to this Policy Board, is
detailed below.

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3.2 For Operational Services while most of the COVID-19 restrictions have now been
removed, Covid related absences continue to be a challenge to service delivery.  In
addition, whilst assisting the services to continue to operate last year, staff accrued
annual leave which they have now been using this year. 
Updates for Infrastructure Land and Environment Policy Board 
4. Fleet, Roads and Transportation 
4.1 Fleet Services 
Fleet Services have taken delivery of three new vehicles; two for StreetScene and 
new one for the roads service. Compared to the previous vehicles, these use modern
technology to provide greater fuel efficiency, reduced carbon impact and will cost
less to maintain, also they’re design reduces working at height and other Health &
Safety risks for operatives that use them. 
4.2       Paisley Town Centre Car Parking 
In line with the Scottish Government’s guidance on living with Covid in the months
ahead and rebuilding for a better future, in order to assist businesses, retail and
communities transition, there will be no change to the pilot parking arrangements in
Paisley Town Centre with 3 hours free parking within 8 car parks continuing to
remain in place until the end of March 2023 to allow a further review of where
Renfrewshire is with the pandemic over the winter months. 
4.3 #YouDecide
4.3.1 The engagement with the communities has been a positive experience with
communities and individuals contributing 2,843 ideas. This initial list has been
shortlisted to approximately 100 ideas.  A similar engagement exercise to that carried
out in Phase 1 will take place to encourage communities across Renfrewshire to vote
for projects in their local area. 
4.3.2    Officers are finalising the voting process with a view to the shortlisted ideas going to
a public vote in September 2022. 
4.4 Active Travel Update
4.4.1    The Paisley to Renfrew riverside cycle and pedestrian route started the build
phase in late January 2022. The section from Abercorn Street towards Wright
Street is nearing completion and the connection southwards to the Paisley
Central Retail Park off Renfrew Road is underway. The next phase heads on-
road to Renfrew and some contractor design elements will be the subject of
public notification in due course.  The project will provide an important active
travel link from Paisley Gilmour Street Station all the way to the River Clyde.   
4.4.2 Smarter Choices, Smart Places
Environment & Infrastructure Services have been working with schools and
communities to implement new Active Travel projects as part of the Smarter Choices,
Smarter Places funding programme:

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Beat the Street
Following the success of the Beat the Street Villages Game, which ran from August
to October 2021 in a number of our villages. Around 7,000 participants, schools and
community groups benefitted from being encouraged to travel actively by feeling fitter
and being given vouchers for local businesses as rewards, Beat the Street has been
launched again in Paisley and runs until mid-October.  The project aims to increase
people’s activity levels, improve health and promote behavioural change. “Beat the
Street” is focused around a 6-week game, scheduled to take place across
Paisley.  We are working in partnership with OneRen to promote the project in
schools and local communities. 
Not far? Leave the Car
The Beat the Street Project is linked to the Not Far? Leave the Car campaign which
similarly rewards participants for making behavioural changes through a
downloadable app and leaving the car at home in favour of getting more active.  The
Council’s communications team has worked closely with the organiser Better Points
and a specialist consultant to engage with businesses to make lasting connections.
This work is in the hope that the long-term profitability of businesses in Renfrewshire
is aided after the effects of the pandemic. Similarly, Council staff have also been
targeted and encouraged to use the app for their own health and wellbeing and to
reduce their dependence on the car.  A further update will be provided to a future
Board. 
4.4.3 Council and SPT funds have provided a significant investment in Pedestrian
Crossing installations, the most recently completed at Houston Road and Penilee
Road. Officers continue to work with Scottish Power to energise a crossing at
Barrhead Road. All these crossings are part of a programme to address concerns
over crossing safety and speeding at locations around schools, nurseries and key
junctions in towns and villages. 
5. Parks Investment 
5.1 Maxwellton Park play area contract was awarded late December 2021 but was
subject to equipment manufacturing delays. The play area upgrade was completed in
July. 
5.2 Five contracts awarded early March 2022 for play area renewal have now all been
successfully completed at 
• Morar Drive, Paisley; 
• Durrockstock Park, Paisley; 
• Ellerslie Street, Johnstone; 
• Tinto Square, Renfrew; and 
• Ben Lawers Drive (Hawkhead Park), Paisley. 
5.2.1 In addition construction works at East End Park, Paisley have been undertaken. The
park will open to the public following final stages of the works and post installation
inspections.

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5.2.2 A seventh contract awarded for Lochwinnoch Park is scheduled to start late August
2022. 
5.3 Following a second successful tender exercise in June 2022, a further six play area
renewal contracts have been awarded for;
• Campbell Street, Renfrew
• Crags Park, Paisley
• Elm Drive & Sycamore Avenue, Johnstone
• Ardgryffe Park, Houston
• Churchill Drive, Bishopton 
• Dunvegan Avenue, Elderslie 
It is anticipated that installation of these new play areas will start from October 2022
and be complete by the end of the calendar year. 
5.4 Work has begun on specifying works for play areas identified for refurbishment
outlined in the August 2021 report to this board. Initial work will look at refurbishment
of Howwood Park Toddler / Junior, Houston Public Park, Moss Road Park and
Inchinnan Playing Field play areas. 
5.5 Work at Barshaw Pond has been complete. The pond has been allowed to fill
naturally to protect the fish. Water levels are safe but remain low at present.  A
treatment plan for algae and pond weed growth has been established. 
5.6 Friends of Barshaw Park have received planning consent and a licence to occupy the
walled garden and adjacent area. The work for the community garden commenced
on 14 July and is expected to take 6 weeks to complete. 
5.7 The service continues to engage with the Friends of Robertson Park. The request for
a licence to occupy has been submitted to Estates. 
5.8 Lawn Tennis Association announced a fund in October 2021 to support the
refurbishment of park tennis courts throughout the UK. The Council submitted an
expression of interest in December 2021 and commenced work to produce a bid
request to the fund with the LTA in May 2022. This was following the formal opening
of the fund and the appointment of a Park Investment Delivery Officer for Scotland.
This required detailed survey work to be completed in two sites namely Robertson
Park, Renfrew and Brodie Park, Paisley. The surveys have now been completed and
a bid has been submitted in principle to the fund, subject to appropriate Council
approvals. The LTA are also looking at the potential of the courts in Johnstone to see
if they would be feasible to refurbish. 
There will be a requirement to complete a joint business case in Partnership with
One Ren who will be required to manage and maintain the courts following
refurbishment. A future joint board report will be prepared to ensure appropriate
approvals have been sought in advance of accepting any funding from LTA.

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6. Climate Change 
6.1    Electric Vehicle Charge Points
Ground works have been completed on the EV Charging Hub at Stow Brae Car Park.
The connection by Scottish Power will provide the first element of the regeneration
works planned for Causeyside Street and provide the local community with twelve
electric vehicle charging bays.
EV charge points at Johnstone Sports Hub have had their final commissioning by our
contractor Swarco and are now live. The EV charge points at Bridge Street car park
have been connected to the Scottish Power supply. 
6.2  Biodiversity
Wildflower corridors/areas at the following areas have bloomed and are providing
both a range of colour and increased pollinator species. 
• Paisley - Linwood Road 
• Paisley, St James's - Greenock Road 
• Erskine - A726 
• Paisley - Glenburn Road 
• Johnstone - Spateston 
A number of the seeds in the wildflower mix require a frost as part of their germination
process so there will be a further increase in both the splash of colour and the
pollination in coming years. 
Spateston ELC were fully involved in the sowing of the wildflower area adjacent to
the nursey and worked alongside the Biodiversity Officer. The collaboration has been
a huge success. 
7          Team Up to Clean Up 
7.1       The new Environmental Taskforce, another collaboration between Communities &  
Housing and Environment & Infrastructure is set to support and increase the
effectiveness of the Team Up to Clean Up Campaign.  Dedicated staff from both
StreetScene and the Community Safety Partnership will ensure presented bags and
flytipping are promptly removed and instances of flytipping are fully investigated.  A
suite of new cameras are being installed at identified hotspot locations across
Renfrewshire to detect offenders.  The Environmental Taskforce will work under the
Team Up to Clean Up banner and aim to reduce flytipping across the authority. 
The Campaign is still steadily growing with over 4,000 community members and
volunteers engaging, celebrating their work and arranging to meet up to tackle larger,
more complicated spaces.  The StreetScene Operatives are also communicating and
enjoying dialogue with volunteers, the volunteers are appreciating the support of the
people behind the work. 
7.2 Since June there have been community 607 clean ups reported, 2,618 bags of litter
removed from communities with 658 volunteers participating.  The Provost,

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Councillor Cameron, has kindly issued “Thank you” notes to volunteers
acknowledging their efforts in cleaning some large scale, heavily littered and flytipped
areas. 
8. Waste and Recycling Services 
8.1 Following a second application, £346,107 of funding has been secured from the
Scottish Government’s Recycling Investment Fund. This will be utilised to improve
the infrastructure within our HWRC sites to facilitate better separation of materials by
site users and improve our recycling rates. 
8.2 An additional 16,000 households across Renfrewshire are moving to the co-mingled
garden and food waste collection service. These households have previously been
on a food waste only collection service. The required bins will be rolled out in
September, with ward members updated in advance on details within their ward,
along with householders. The Council will benefit from a reduction in kilometres
travelled, subsequently reducing the carbon footprint of the waste collection service.   
8.3 In early 2022, Waste Services together with support from Soft FM and Children’s
Services undertook a review of existing school recycling infrastructure.  An analysis
of waste arisings from schools showed that low levels of recycling were being
achieved.  The Waste Service made recommendations on the actions required to
facilitate improvements.  New internal and external infrastructure is being rolled out to
all establishments during the Autumn to enable staff and pupils to maximise
recycling. This will be supported by new user guides and a presence within schools
by waste advisers and will improve the councils overall recycling.  This project will
benefit the community by reducing the carbon footprint of waste as there will be an
increased quantity and better quality of material collected for recycling. 
8.4 Circular Economy
The Scottish Government is currently consulting on their proposals for a Route Map
to deliver a circular economy in Scotland and on proposals for legislation in a Circular
Economy Bill. The Route Map sets out how the Government intends to deliver their
system-wide, comprehensive vision. It also outlines tangible actions that can be
taken to accelerate progress and the tools that will be put into place to enable
everyone to play their part. The legislative proposals will provide powers to achieve
these goals. Renfrewshire Council has submitted a response to these complimentary
consultations and copies of the response can be obtained from the service. 
Implications of the Report 
1. Financial – There are ongoing challenges with the impact of COVID and cost of
living pressures, these are captured in the financial outturn report presented in a
separate paper to this policy board. 
2. HR & Organisational Development – None

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3. Community & Council Planning 
Our Renfrewshire is thriving / Reshaping our place, our economy and our
future - the service is actively involved in the Invest in Renfrewshire scheme and
investing in road network to support and facilitate economic growth. 
Creating a sustainable Renfrewshire for all to enjoy - working in partnership with
the community to deliver a cleaner Renfrewshire.  Promoting and encouraging waste
minimisation through reducing, reusing and recycling. Reducing carbon emissions,
through LED streetlights and electric and low emission vehicles within the Council
fleet. 
Our Renfrewshire is well - the service encourages use of our parks and open
spaces to promote a healthy and active lifestyle. 
4. Legal – None 
5. Property/Assets – The Council’s roads, fleet and open space infrastructure is
maintained and enhanced. 
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, and the results of the assessment
will be published on the Council’s website 
8. Health & Safety – None 
9. Procurement – None 
10. Risk – CRMG are continuing to review the Council’s risk profile in light of the
coronavirus pandemic. 
11. Privacy Impact – None 
12. CoSLA Policy Position – None 
13. Climate Risk – The Council continues to explore opportunities to secure external
funding to deliver sustainable, green infrastructure projects. 
List of Background Papers: none 
Author:  Gordon McNeil, Director of Environment & Infrastructure
e-mail:   gordon.mcneil@renfrewshire.gov.uk