Olympic spotlight turns on new Swingos in Weymouth

Swingo

In just four years the eyes of the sailing world will be on Weymouth - venue for the 2012 Olympics - but preparations are well under way to keep the area clean and tidy.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has taken delivery of four new Schmidt Swingo 250s.  Each has a team of driver/operator and manual street cleaner, who is also trained to drive the Swingo and is a passenger when it travels to the working site.

"Times have changed and we find that a team approach works best,"  says Council Cleansing Supervisor Mark Pizzie.  "There are hundreds of cars parked along the roads and we need to get the litter out so that the Swingo can pick it up.  We are also under time pressure, so we need to get the job done effectively, first time and then move on.

"The drivers enjoy operating the Swingos and that is a big part of encouraging job satisfaction.  We ipress on the cleansing team that if the public notice that the streets and precincts are clean and litter-free they are less likely to drop litter.  So if they do thier job right first time then the task becomes a lot easier."

Parked cars are just one of the obstacles: street furniture on the sea front, signposts and trees all require sweeping and the Swingo is able to tackle almost all areas.  It mounts kerbs to handle litter on pavements, and the wide-sweep brushes remove waste across a large area in a single pass.

SFS, who started looking after the Council's fleet of some 70 vehicles three years ago, has been given a long-term contract to 2016, and thi sincludes helping the Council select the right compact sweeper for its needs - the Swingo.

"The productivity and effectiveness of the Swingos, combined with the enthusiasm and professionalism of the team in Street Cleansing, means that Weymouth and Portland is always on top of its litter and waste," says SFS Contracts Manager Dave Sheppard.

"When the operatives take such pride in their job, and they are given the right tools to work with, the result reflects well on the Council."

Swingo