Councillor Hardyal Dhindsa looks back at his first year as Cabinet Member for Communities and Streetpride, and ahead to the next 12 months.

As Cabinet Member for Communities and Streetpride, the services that are my responsibility are also some of the most visible to everyone who lives or works in the city. Everyone wants to enjoy their local park, and to walk along clean streets.  

The financial challenges facing councils mean we are having to do more with less. However, we all have a part to play in looking after where we live and together, we can make our city a place to be proud of, for everyone.

When we took over the administration a year ago, we promised to take action to make our streets cleaner and safer, and we’ve made an excellent start. To make it easier to get rid of rubbish and recycling which won’t fit into bins, you no longer need to book a slot at Raynesway HWRC on a Sunday. We’re also now offering free bulky waste collections for two weeks of the year.

It’s obvious that there is a demand for responsible waste disposal across the city and the increased visits to Raynesway and the quick booking of all the free bulky waste collection slots shows this.

We’re keen to do more but this has to be balanced with responsible budgetary decisions to support the Council’s overall financial health.

Our approach to making our city cleaner includes working with Kingdom Local Authority Support to reduce littering on the streets and fly tipping, through education and enforcement.

In October I launched the City Centre Summit, bringing together key partners to make the heart of our city a safe and pleasant place to be. We’re already reaping the rewards of working in partnership, with businesses and volunteers joining forces to spruce up our main streets during the Great British Spring Clean. Meanwhile partners in Derbyshire Constabulary have also been cracking down on anti-social behaviour, with weekend Public Space Protection Orders.

This is just the start for the City Centre Summit and I look forward to seeing more improvements in the city centre in the coming year.

Our public parks and open spaces are a real asset to our city and this year I’ve been delighted to see some exceptional projects come to fruition. The new Derby Racecourse Hub has been an incredible success since it welcomed its first grass roots football players through the door, with thousands attending. It is starting to become a valuable hub for the wider community too. I look forward to the official opening in the Summer.

The Football Foundation Playzone at Normanton Park is the first of its kind in the country, and is providing fantastic facilities for the community. And I’m delighted that we’ve secured a new operator for the High Ropes course at Markeaton Park, which continues to attract the most visitors of any public park in the region.

Away from the adrenaline-fuelled activity, the rewilding project at Allestree Park has been awarded £1.1 million of National Lottery funding to create a space for nature. All of these projects are examples of what can be achieved through working in partnership.

In the year ahead, we’ll continue to work with our city partners to make Derby a safer, cleaner and greener place to live. We’ll work with you to introduce new food waste collections in line with national reforms, and we’ll introduce a Climate, Re-use and Recycling Hub, to process items that are difficult to recycle, as well as providing greener jobs and climate education.