No sign of second lorry to tackle Derby's drains prompts concern

Derby City Council is yet to buy a second gully cleansing lorry, despite it being funded more than eight months ago. In February it was reported the city council only had one maintenance lorry to cover approximately 43,000 drains city-wide.

The information came to light after council leaders were challenged on drains by a member of the public - Normanton resident Simon Bacon.

Several weeks after the revelation, it was agreed following cross-party talks between Labour and Conservative councillors for money to be allocated to buy a second cleansing lorry within the council’s 2024/25 budget. This was at the cost of £180,000 and later approved at a budget meeting.

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It was hoped a second vehicle would help slash drain clearance times across the city, especially during heavy rainfall. But there is no sign of the additional lorry. The city council says it is yet to purchase the vehicle because of "capacity" issues at its depot.

Ahead of the full council meeting on Wednesday (November 20), Liberal Democrat councillor Lucy Care asked for an update on the purchase of a second lorry. But she was told in response there had been problems in buying the vehicle. She was also informed the council was exploring the idea of getting an additional depot to store extra stock.

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Ndukwe Onuoha, cabinet member for Streetpride, told Councillor Care in a written answer before the meeting began: “At present we are at the limit of our (depot) capacity, and we must consider how we accommodate the needs of the national introduction of food waste collection. As a consequence, we are unable to purchase the additional vehicle at present, but we continue to work effectively within our asset management policies and procedures and take a risk-based approach to gully cleansing across the network.”

The cabinet member added: “We are currently exploring a secondary depot which will help alleviate this issue. This is subject to a number of factors that are currently being explored.”

Cllr Care told a full council meeting on Wednesday (November 20): “I’m really disappointed we haven’t got our gully wagon. I think it undermines the decision the council took at the beginning of the year.”

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