STREET cleaning and the maintenance of parks and open spaces is now being handled by Salisbury City Council.

The move, which sees services previously provided by contractor Idverde, came into force on December 1.
It will see all services provided solely by council employees, in a bid to improve efficiency and ensure the teams are locally controlled.

However, the council has now warned there may be some issues during a ‘teething period’, as the authority continues hiring to ensure the teams are fully staffed.
Cllr Annie Riddle, one of the leaders of the council, said: “I am pleased that after much planning and preparation the change to a fully in house Streetscene and Parks Team takes place this week.
“The council are determined, once the teething period is over, to deliver a local, focussed and effective high standard of cleanliness and good upkeep of the city for those who live in, work in or visit the city.”
The move comes after it was announced a number of city centre bins would be removed in a bid to stop them overflowing due to staff shortages on teams emptying them.

Cllr Riddle added: “This is because we don’t have the manpower to empty all the bins and we do not wish to see them overflowing onto the streets.
“The bins that are most commonly used will remain in place, along with our new recycling bins in the city centre.”
People are urged to dispose of their rubbish considerately.

In October 2020, the council agreed the services should be brought in-house.
However, it warned reduced staff numbers were an ‘unavoidable consequence of the period of transition’.
“Obviously, this will in turn, temporarily result in a slightly reduced level of service,” a spokesperson said.
“Some workers who previously worked for Idverde will transfer across to Salisbury City Council and will bring their experience of working in the city with them which will really benefit the team.”