New approach to help speed up gutter clearing and cut costs
Hackney Council to use elevating platforms to reduce use of ‘disruptive’ scaffolding and speed up the cleaning of gutters - at a fraction of the cost
Elevating platforms like cherry pickers are to be used to help speed up work to clear the gutters of Hackney Council homes at a fraction of the cost of using scaffolding.
The move is part of the Council’s continued drive to reduce the amount of ‘disruptive’ scaffolding that needs to be put up around people’s homes.
As well as saving money, they can help clear around 17 times the usual length of guttering and downpipes in a day.
Usually it would cost around £4,000 to put up scaffolding to clear around 10 metres of guttering. A recent trial using the new approach saw 170 metres of guttering cleared, as well as 12 rainwater downpipes in just one day - at a cost of just over £1,500.
They will be used on homes and blocks up to four storeys - saving the cost and time it takes to put up scaffolding. The thousands of pounds saved each time can be reinvested into maintaining and improving Council homes.
This is the second step in the drive to speed up repairs and maintenance while saving money by cutting down on the use of scaffolding following concerns from residents about the disruption it causes.
In June the Council announced the use of drones to capture footage to examine repair and maintenance issues on rooftops with the footage used to determine what work needs to be carried out, with scaffolding only installed where repairs are required.
"This move to platforms like cherry pickers to clean blocked guttering does save money - and a lot of it, but more importantly, it’s moving from reactive to a more proactive approach to gutter clearance.
“Where before scaffolding would go up in one set location to clear one part of guttering. Now for the cost of doing a small part of an estate, we can do a lot more and a lot quicker, at a lower cost, and can clear entire estates for a comparable cost.
“Changes to reduce costs such as this will free up resources to be reallocated elsewhere and allow us to keep up with new demand. While these are still first steps, Hackney will continue to improve and innovate its methodology to set a new precedent London-wide
"My goal is and always has been to improve the quality of life for those living in our council homes in the borough now and in the future."
Cllr Dylan Law, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Safer Homes and Housing Services