Council’s new plan to clean filthy footpaths

Council’s new plan to clean filthy footpaths

14 August 2013

DOWN Council is considering purchasing a £40,000 power washing machine to clean granite footpaths in Newcastle and Downpatrick.

Traders in both towns have recently complained bitterly about how the Chinese granite paths, laid as part of major environmental improvement schemes, dirty so easily.

They say the sight of soiled paths is unwelcoming to visitors and does nothing to enhance the image of both towns where millions of pounds has been spent on streetscape initiatives.

In a bid to address traders’ concerns, council officials recently signed an agreement with a sub-contactor to clean the granite paths in Downpatrick and Newcastle at a cost of £10,000 per annum.

But council officials are suggesting the local authority should look at buying its own machine and dedicate two members of staff to operate the equipment. The annual staff costs have been estimated at £34,000.

Work on an environmental improvement scheme is currently underway in Ballynahinch and council officials say new paths being laid in the market town could be included in a new power washing maintenance scheme covering the district’s three main towns.

Members of Down Council’s Building and Estates Committee were told last week that if the local authority purchases the hot water power washer, the equipment could also be used to remove graffiti, fly posters and used in clean-up operations following major spillages across the district.

Council officials say the equipment could also be used to wash local authority signs across the district and could prove to be a really handy tool which the local authority would have access to 24/7.

Committee members heard that council officials investigated the potential of sealing the granite footpaths with a substance to prevent them from dirtying so easily.

They were told the paths would have to be cleaned before the sealant was applied and that the Department of Regional Development would have to sanction the move and be satisfied that the substance applied to the path would not result in people slipping. Council officials said seeking such an assurance from the manufacturer would prove difficult.

Councillors were also told that the cost of sealing existing granite paths in both towns would be £35,000, three and a half times the price of the annual price to power wash them.

Committee chairman, Councillor Dessie Patterson, said officers have been asked to look in finer detail at the associated costs of purchasing and running a new power washer suggesting the figures being quoted were “quite high.”

He said he shares the concerns of traders about the state of footpaths in their respective towns and appealed to people to do all they an to keep them clean. Councillor Patterson said spilt soft drinks, coffee and ice-cream can leave the granite paths particularly dirty.

He added: “The cost of buying a new power washer and running it does concern me and I wonder what price firms in the private sector would quote to clean the paths in our three main towns?”

The Building and Estates Committee is due to discuss the issue again during its next meeting in early October.