South Somerset District Council Street Cleaning rounds are currently under review to ensure that the best possible use of time and resources are being made.

The teams have set routes and frequencies to ensure the whole of the district receive a proportionate share of the resource available for emptying bins, litter picking and sweeping.

We currently have three bin emptying rounds, three large mechanical sweepers, one pavement sweeper in Chard and another two pavement sweepers in the district.

Each area of the district now has a dedicated team for cleaning and litter picking including weed control.

The two members of the street cleaning team in Chard town centre cover seven days a week.

With three large mechanical sweepers and two pavement sweepers available, we aim to carry out a clean of each area within the district twice a year.

The machines carry out a sweep of the gutters on kerb edged roads and pavement to remove as much of the detritus build up and prevent weed growth.

Our 1500 street litter bins throughout the district are emptied on a weekly basis, with town centre and market town bins emptied four times a week.

We request that street litter bins are not used for disposing of your household waste as this fills them up too quickly making them unavailable for others to use. This can lead to contents spilling out of the bin and litter blown across the area. 

Street litter bins can be used for both litter and dog waste disposal.

We can attend to a damaged or full litter bin if it is owned and maintained by us.

We are not able to attend to a damaged or full litter bin if it is on private land. This includes private shopping centres, colleges, schools, parish council or housing association land. This is the responsibility of the landowner, and any incidents will need to be reported to them directly.

Report a damaged or full litter bin

If you feel there is a need for additional bins in your area, please contact your local parish council in the first instance, who will then work with our Locality team and Streetscene to investigate the requirement. The team will look at current provision and usage in the area, carry out patrols and enforcement, if necessary, to decide if there is a need for a new bin. Size, type, location and purchasing of the bin is then agreed with all parties involved.

These bins will be continually reviewed as to condition and usage over the course of their life to ensure they are kept ‘fit for purpose’.

We can arrange for the removal of graffiti from land and property owned by the Council. This includes public access parks and play areas.

We cannot remove graffiti from private property, unless it is requested by the property owner. This includes land owned by colleges, schools, Parish Council and Housing Associations.

Graffiti Removals

• We will remove offensive graffiti from public buildings within 24 hours of it being reported.
• We will remove graffiti from private property, on receipt of written permission from the owner, at a variable fee per m2.

Report graffiti

If you find a hazardous waste deposit, please report immediately to us.

To ensure it is removed safely and without risk to our staff, we arrange for Somerset Waste Partnership to make a special collection with specially trained staff to carry out this work.

If you can supply photographs and a ‘What3words’ location in your report, this will speed up the process for having it removed.

Our Street Cleaning team will pick up needles and other drug litter in the course of their duties. They carry litter pickers and sharps boxes to deal with these issues.

However, we are unable to collect from private or commercial property or land as this is the responsibility of the landowner. This includes land owned by colleges, schools, Parish Council and Housing Associations.

If drug litter is a regular occurrence in your community, please contact your local PCSO for advice.

If you find a needle or other drug litter in your garden, please place it carefully into a sturdy receptacle and leave at the curtilage of your property and request its removal by reporting it online using the link below. 

We can arrange the removal of drug paraphernalia from land owned by the Council. This includes public access parks and play areas. We can also remove paraphernalia from pavements and gutters, but not from roads themselves.

Report drug litter

Our Street Cleaners can remove dead animals from the side of the a road or verge, pavements, gutters and public paths. If an animal has been killed in the road, please contact Somerset County Highways Authority who will remove it to the side of the road ready for collection.

We cannot remove birds, rabbits, hedgehogs or other small animals, but these can be placed in your refuse bin for collection and disposal.

We are not able to remove dead animals from private land. This includes private shopping centres, colleges, schools, Parish Council and Housing Associations. This is the responsibility of the landowner and any incidents will need to be reported to them directly.

Report a dead animal

Last year, we removed a total of 478 fly-tips at a cost of £24K (Wastedata Info) and visited many more that were found to be on private land.

These ranged from single items, to tipper lorry loads costing vast amounts of resources to be used in their removal and disposal.

If you find a fly-tip on Council land that needs removal, report it using the link below. 

Please provide as much information regarding location (for example, using What3Words), the size of deposit and type of materials involved, together with any information if you have witnessed the incident.

If an incident has been witnessed and evidence is available, please do not remove this. Our Enforcement Team will carry out an investigation which can lead to a fine or imprisonment of the responsible party.

If the fly tip is on private land, please notify the landowner.

Report fly-tipping

Our Street Cleaning Team continue to remove litter when carrying out their everyday duties. However, if you have an accumulation of litter in a certain area, please report it to us using the link below. 

We are able to remove litter from Council owned land. This includes pavements, public paths and play areas.

We are not able to remove litter from private land. This includes shopping centres, colleges, schools, Parish Council and Housing Associations. This is the responsibility of the landowner and any incidents will need to be reported to them directly.

If the litter is in the middle of a road, report it to Somerset County Council online.

Litter issues can be dealt with in variety of ways. It may be refuse being placed out too early for collection, recycling bins losing their contents or household waste being put in street litter bins then overspilling due to capacity available. We work closely with our colleagues in Somerset Waste Partnership, Environmental Health, and Locality teams to investigate the cause and try to rectify the problem.

Report litter