Storm Bert clear-up

Our street cleaning teams will be working hard to clear leaves and any fallen trees following high winds and heavy rain brought by Storm Bert this weekend.

Leaves

We are currently in ‘leaf season’, so we already have extra teams supporting our usual crews, but the high winds and heavy rain we experienced this weekend mean there will be more leaves than usual on roads and pavements. 

These extra teams focus on clearing the bulk of leaves as a priority. Their goal is to return roads to a manageable condition, minimising disruption and enabling scheduled teams to resume normal operations. 

In the case of urgent issues, resources are diverted from the normal schedule, which can impact other areas. We are working to clear leaves as quickly as possible, but please bear with us if this takes a bit longer than usual. 

Hopefully the heavy rain has now passed, and surface water flooding should have subsided. Gullies and grates are designed to catch debris including leaves, and loose leaves will naturally collect in grates. We will clear these as soon as possible – you only need to report surface flooding if it has not subsided a couple of hours after rain has stopped. 

If you have a build-up of leaves on your private property, we’d ask you to avoid clearing this onto public roads or pavements as this can create hazards. Find out options for recycling leaves and other garden waste. 

Learn more about leaf clearing.

Trees 

Our Trees team has been out across the borough over the weekend assessing any damage and hazards. A small number of damaged and fallen trees have been identified, and the sites have been made safe. 

You can report any issues with trees affecting public roads, pavements, paths and parks online.