Keeping Glenferrie Clean

Although not always visible to the every day shoppers of the Glenferrie Precinct, the City of Boroondara takes steps to ensure areas within the council limits are kept clean and presentable, including the footpaths, roads and bins.

So what exactly does the council facilitate in terms of cleaning, when is this done and are these cleaning procedures the sole responsibility of the City of Boroondara?

When discussing how the council ensures the upkeep of Glenferrie Road between Barkers Road and Manningtree Road, Bruce Dobson, Director of Environment and Infrastructure at the City of Boroondara, says that “Glenferrie Road shopping precinct is one of the most challenging centres due to a number of factors including noise constraints in some sections, night life, parking and public transport.”

Glenferrie Road is a commercial zone, which means council is permitted to undertake street cleaning at any time. The machines used create noise due to the vacuum and the reversing beepers and although a commercial zone, the council is aware of the residents living above shops so street cleaning is done between 4:30am and 6am to minimise disruption.

The main road and footpaths of Glenferrie precinct are swept 7 days a week with side streets serviced after 6am, followed by a crew employed by the council to pick up litter. A high-pressure deep clean of the footpaths and road is done twice a year with the next scheduled for April 2018.

Bins along the footpath are reviewed three times daily, monday to friday, by council crew to remove litter and report any waste related issues to council. The cages which hold the footpath bins are cleaned every Friday.

The City of Boroondara’s funding to keep the streets, footpath and bins clean is partially funded by VicRoads as Glenferrie Road is a VicRoads managed road. VicRoads fund approximately 4.5 sweeps per year. The council does provide service above and beyond this funding to ensure the community’s expectations for the area are met, with a $3.2 million per annum budget for street sweeping in Boroondara.

Important to note is the responsibility of the upkeep of our precinct on an individual level. Sometimes traders can be seen sweeping the footpath outside their shops, washing the windows and ensuring their rubbish bins are neat and not overflowing.

For the upkeep of Glenferrie to satisfy locals, customers and traders it is important that along with what the council organise on a large scale that we all do our part individually. We can simply make sure that we dispose of rubbish in the correct bins, report overflowing bins or dumped rubbish to council, don’t litter and importantly pick up after our dogs.