Temporary closure of Deanes building

The Deanes building is to temporarily close from next Wednesday (22 April) in response to the continuing coronavirus outbreak.

As you are no doubt aware, we have been, in line with the government instructions, supporting council officers to work from home during the current pandemic wherever possible.

This has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of officers working in the campus buildings. There has also been a significant reduction, based on the sign-in process in Deanes, of councillors attending site over the last two weeks.

This is being actioned for a number of reasons. It will support staff wellbeing, as we have had a number of occasions, both in Deanes and Parklands, when people who need to be in for operational reasons have been working in isolation on a floor or wing of a building, and even at times in the building as a whole. This is not ideal from a health and safety perspective.

Given the small number of people coming in, social distancing can still be easily maintained in Parklands to protect staff and we can focus on increased cleaning of more heavily used areas to support increased hygiene measures already in place.

It is difficult to justify the cost and energy use of opening all the campus buildings with such a significant reduction in usage. Parklands must be kept operational because of the police occupation of the top floor so it is logical that Deanes should be the building to close.

The Facilities Management team will be able to focus on Parklands, albeit with daily checks in Deanes. This will enable greater resilience in the team so that the campus remains operational.

The Deanes building can be fully operational with a day’s notice and therefore the decision to temporarily close it will not impact as we move into the recovery phase of the pandemic.

Appeal to share bin collection information

We are appealing to people to safely share important information from the council on how to receive help and support and details of changes to services during the COVID-19 outbreak. We are asking them to safely pass on information to anyone who is not online and lives in the borough like a neighbour, friend or family member, by calling or telling them, keeping within the social distancing guidance.

One of the things we are asking them to pass on is important changes to the frequency of grey bin waste collections in the borough from Monday 20 April. This temporary change will mean green bin collections will stay the same and grey waste bins will be collected fortnightly on the alternate week.

Key points to pass on are:

·         this is a temporary change

·         if you have a grey 140 litre waste bin you can leave out two additional bags for collection

·         if you have a large grey 240 litre waste bin no additional bags will be taken

·         if you have a large family you can apply for an additional bin if you do not already have one

·         assisted collections will continue

·         clinical waste collections will continue

·         recycling and glass collections will continue as normal

·         please recycle as much as you can

·         start looking at how much waste you throw away and how you can reduce this by buying differently

·         start squashing your waste, like yoghurt pots, to maximise the capacity of your grey bin.

For more information on the changes and frequently asked questions visit https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/covid-19-bins-and-recycling