HC NEWS
THE HIGHLAND COUNCIL
DO NEED TO REPORT A PROBLEM TO THE HIGHLAND COUNCIL?
Just a brief reminder for residents wishing to report problems to Highland Council.
Preferably use the website link https://www.highland.gov.uk/report or call the Service Centre contact number 01349 886602 to request a repair. This is important as a reference number will be given. If not the resident should insist one is given. This reference number starts an audit trail that relevant departments, such as Housing, can and must follow up. If telephoning, residents may have to wait for their call to be answered or to call back at a different time. But do keep on trying until you get that reference number!
VEHICLE DAMAGE DUE TO POTHOLES
There is an online form on the Highland Council website. You will need the following:
date, time, location, photo\receipts for any work to your car, tyre etc.
Report pothole damage here: Roadside problems | Roadside problems | The Highland Council
Or phone 01349 886601 for an insurance claim form for damage to your car
HIGHLAND COUNCIL SEASONAL ACCESS RANGERS
For full details and ways to contact their Team read here
ALL HOUSEHOLDS TO HAVE AN EXTRA WHEELIE BIN
All households could soon be having an extra refuse/recycling wheelie bin! After research in to the contents of the Highlands Green Bins destined for landfill, discovered that more than 60% was recyclable!
If the Highland Council's application to the Scottish Government's Improvement Fund is successful, your existing green general waste bin will be converted to collect mixed containers (plastic bottles, pots, tubs, trays, cans, tins, foil, cartons, and potentially soft plastics). The existing blue bin currently used for mixed recycling will be converted to collect paper and card only. The new 180 litre bin will then be used for general waste.
The new General Waste Bin will be uplifted fortnightly with your Recycling bins (green and blue) being emptied once a month each in weeks that the General Waste bin is not.
For more details please click on these links -
https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/15159/new_arrangements_for_waste_disposal_in_highland
NOISE MONITORING
This continues to be the most talked about problem in Cromarty and at his recent surgery, held at the Victoria Hall, our MP Ian Blackford discovered just how passionate the community is on the subject and how it is making so many lives an absolute misery. As a result, and armed with his constituents’ words, he has agreed to contact Global Energy at Nigg to seek some explanation as to why their activities are causing so much physical and mental anguish.
In the meantime please can we remind you that the Environmental Health Officer from the Highland Council has requested that noise/nuisance record sheets are completed regarding the rig noise. If they don't receive any noise/nuisance record sheets, they will not be able to investigate further. Download the sheet and notes here
Please consider the impact of the noise on you, your physical and mental health, your relationships, your work and anything else you think is important.
Once completed, please send the records to The Environmental Health Officer, Community Services, Highland Council Area Office, 84 High Street, Dingwall IV159QN.
Please also send a copy the C&DCC at cromartydistrictcc@gmail.com so we can collate the number of responses for future contact with the Environmental Health team. Thank you.
INCREASE IN LITTERING & WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 2023
This information came from Les Ross (Waste Management) as part of a response to Avoch & Killen CC about the increase in littering. Specifically, about a more efficient system for the logging and management of complaints.
NOTE: the disappointing news on there being no additional resources for visitor management.
RESPONSE READS:
Ross & Cromarty Waste Management has not been allocated any additional resources for Visitor Management this year but will monitor the situation as much as we can. The current service will be maintained throughout the season with regular inspections.
We hope to manage all reports of any visitor management issues through the CRM system and would encourage all to report any issues using it.
We are moving away from using emails and phone calls as a way to manage complaints. There are several reasons for this:
The CRM System manages accountability and full circle response. This means that when a complaint is logged, the action clock starts and there is a specific time period to action the complaint and respond to the complainant. The employee actioning the CRM is the designated Foreperson.
The Waste Operations manager or Waste management Officer, will go into the CRM and look for variances and or actions not undertaken. This holds everyone accountable and ensures a robust service delivery.
The CRM provides the ability to understand trending, and to provide analytical data for robust root case analysis.
The Waste Operations Manager, WMOs, or Forepersons may or may not be on leave, out in the field etc. When these things occur, the email is not answered.
Lastly, we are working hard to improve productivity with respect to our processes. An email or phone call about a complaint has an elongated process trail and is highly inefficient.
The Waste Operations Manager and Waste Management Operation Officers review the CRM system and manage any variances or time frame escalations. (i.e. the CRM was not actioned with the required time) The Forepersons review the CRM during the course of the day and action complaints accordingly in real time.
With the process in the CRM, within 24 hours the issues can be resolved for all local issues. As an example, if we received a complaint about glass on a high street, it would normally be resolved within a few hours. The outlined areas may take longer however, the SLA for those is to have completion in within 10 days (unless there is a significant risk to the environment and or human/animal health).