Current news
For applications to place a structure/equipment within the highway, please see: Information and guidance and Apply for a structure licence.
Is your community ‘risk ready’? Sign up now!
Communities across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) are being offered free, expert support to become ‘risk ready’, as part of a new programme to help them tackle threats like flooding, power outages and disease outbreaks.
The ‘Risk Ready Communities’ programme has been launched by the Local Resilience Forum (LRF), in partnership with charity Groundwork Five Counties and Communities Prepared (a Groundwork South programme).
Communities can access targeted support to identify and prepare for key risks, helping to reduce the impact of emergencies and speed up recovery. The programme is open to all residents, community groups, local councils and faith groups across LLR.
Interested groups will get access to free webinars, workshops and in-person events to help them strengthen their community resilience.
Kristy Ball, Chair of the LRF’s People and Communities Group, said: “Key risks like flooding and power cuts can strike anywhere at any time. The Risk Ready Communities programme offers tailored support to help communities mitigate the impact of emergencies, respond more effectively and recover faster.
“It’s important that everyone in the community is aware of the actions they can take in an emergency, and that we all look out for each other to make sure our communities are truly ‘risk ready’.”
An introductory webinar will take place on both Thursday 16 April, 11am-12pm and Tuesday 21 April, 6.30-7.30pm (same session, different times).
To find out more about the programme or to sign up, visit the website: www.llrresilienceforum.org.uk/risk-ready-communities
Spring savings when you hop on board this Easter
Save up to 50% on bus travel from Monday 30 March to Sunday 12 April when boarding in Leicestershire*.
- Families and groups can enjoy up to 50% off Group or Family Day Tickets* when boarding in Leicestershire. These are for tickets/products managed by local bus operators.
- Passengers on the FoxConnect service will get 10% off every journey.
- It's five for £5 on select routes across Leicestershire County Council’s fully funded services, these services include LC, MC, and HC services.
*Passengers are encouraged to check the ticketing options for the bus operator they choose to travel with.
The full list of participating operators, as well as pricing and ticketing terms can be found on the Choose How You Move website.
New salt bins requests
Read our update on new salt bin requests. Leicestershire County Council will only accept requests for new salt bins from a parish, town, borough or district council.
Keeping dogs under control in the countryside
Many public footpaths and rights of way pass through working farmland where livestock, horses and wildlife are present. When enjoying the countryside, dog owners must follow the Countryside Code.
Please remember:
• Keep dogs under effective control and in sight at all times
• Use a short lead around livestock, horses, and wildlife
• Never allow dogs to chase animals, even in play
• Follow local signs – some areas require dogs to be on leads
• Bag and bin dog poo, or take it home
During lambing season, sheep and lambs are especially vulnerable. Even calm dogs can cause serious harm through stress or chasing. Please keep dogs on a short lead and stay strictly on public paths at this time.
Dogs worrying livestock can cause injury, death, and significant distress to farmers. In serious cases, farmers may be legally permitted to take action to protect their animals.
By following the Countryside Code, we can all help keep people, animals, and dogs safe while enjoying our local countryside.
Find out more: www.countryside-code.org.uk
Recycling and waste
Celebrate Easter 2026 with less waste
Easter is a time for fun, family, and delicious treats – but it’s also a great opportunity to make small, meaningful changes that help the planet. By making mindful choices, we can reduce waste and celebrate in a more sustainable way.
Top tips for a greener Easter
- Choose treats with less packaging - Recycling is good – but avoiding unnecessary packaging is better. When buying Easter eggs and sweets, look for options with minimal or recyclable packaging. Collect small pieces of foil and scrunch together to make a ball before recycling.
- Plan your portions - Hosting an Easter meal? Avoid food waste by planning ahead. Confirm how many guests are coming and prepare portions accordingly. This simple step saves money and reduces leftovers that might otherwise go to waste.
- Refresh your compost bin - Spring is here, and if you’ve got one, it’s the perfect tome to give your compost bin some love. Add vegetable peelings, cut flowers, and other compostable items from your Easter celebrations to return nutrients to the soil.
- Reuse decorations - Instead of buying new decorations every year, store and reuse what you already have. Homemade or upcycled décor adds a personal touch and helps cut down on waste. Saving and reusing is always better than throwing away.
For more ideas, visit the less waste Easter website.
Get involved with the Local Nature Recovery Strategy
Our Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) project capture form is now up and running.
If you’re delivering nature recovery or natural flood management projects – planned, in progress, or completed in the last 12 months – we want to hear from you.
Sharing your projects helps us:
- build a clear picture of what’s happening across the strategy area
- reduce duplication and improve coordination
- support consistent monitoring and reporting for the LNRS
Make sure great work on the ground gets the visibility it deserves.
The form takes 5 minutes to complete and helps us connect local action with our shared strategic goals for nature recovery, to make a landscape where wildlife and people can thrive.
If you're leading a project that contributes to LNRS outcomes, please take a moment to Get involved with the Strategy and help strengthen our collective evidence base.
From Wednesday 1 April, sites will change to the summer opening hours. Sites will be open from 9am to 5pm on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays if they are schedules to be open, and from 9am to 7pm on Tuesday, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, if they are scheduled to be open.
All details regarding opening times/days are available at Waste and recycling. The council continues to encourage residents to avoid busy periods such as weekends, especially bank holiday weekends, and to check the council’s website before setting off.
Illegal parking Report it form
We now have a way for customers to report illegal parking online, see Parking enforcement. This is to improve the way parking is reported.
Composting workshops
Find out about future composting workshops. These workshops are free and open to any Leicestershire resident who is keen to start composting at home or wanting to further their knowledge. Please share this information with colleagues, friends and family who are Leicestershire residents.
Muddy roads
Farming work is an important part of our rural economy in Leicestershire, but ongoing poor weather conditions can make it difficult for farmers to avoid leaving trails of mud on roads throughout the autumn and winter months.
Muddy roads can be difficult for road users, and we want to reassure you that the National Farmers’ Union regularly provides advice on this issue to farmers directly. They encourage the use of ‘Slippery Road Surface’ and ‘Mud on Road’ warning signs, cleaning vehicles before driving them on public routes, as well as including road sweeping and cleansing in their routine ploughing, spraying and harvesting operations.
Where required, district councils will cleanse muddy roads as part of their environmental duties. The county council may provide additional warning signage for motorists when needed and may even serve notice to those who continually muddy roads as a last resort, as well as recovering expenses incurred, in line with the Highways Act 1980.
If you notice a muddy road which has not been cleansed in your area, please contact us via Report a road problem online form or by email cscparishes@leics.gov.uk so that an assessment can be carried out.
Battery recycling campaign
We need your help to reduce the risk of serious fires by encouraging battery recycling. Where possible, please raise awareness of the following key messages:
- Always recycle batteries and electrical items separately from other types of waste.
- Batteries and unwanted electrical items should not go into kerbside recycling collections, unless there is a dedicated separate kerbside collection service for these items – please check with your local district council.
- Find suitable recycling points near you.
- Recycle your batteries and electrical items at Recycling and Household Waste Sites across Leicestershire.
More and more everyday items such as children’s toys, wireless headphones, mobile phones, laptops, electric toothbrushes and disposable vapes contain non-removable batteries. These batteries can become crushed or damaged in bin lorries or at waste sites if they are not recycled appropriately and can lead to fires which are hazardous, environmentally harmful and which cause costly damage and disruption to waste systems and infrastructure.
When crushed or damaged, lithium-ion batteries can be especially dangerous to the public, waste operators and firefighters as they cause fires that are very challenging to tackle. They can lead to explosions and chemical exposure. Once ablaze these batteries can keep reigniting; prolonging incidents with smoke and fumes affecting the air quality of neighbouring areas and communities, sometime for long periods of time.
As the rise of portable battery-powered devices leads to more lithium-ion batteries ending up in the bin, the number of fires caused by batteries in waste has increased accordingly:
- There were 700 fires caused by batteries in the UK waste system in 2022, and 1,200 in 2023 an increase of 71%.
- 1.6 billion batteries were thrown away in the UK over the last year; over 3,000 a minute, including over 1.1 billion electrical items containing hidden lithium-ion batteries.
- The National Fire Chiefs Council says that “Fires involving lithium-ion batteries are a disaster waiting to happen”.
Research by Material Focus (an environmental campaign group) revealed that last year, UK residents binned at least 24 batteries per year on average, including 15 electrical items containing batteries and nine loose batteries per year. This included 260 million disposable vapes.
Nearly half of the UK adults involved in this research did not know or had not heard that electrical items containing chargeable built-in batteries can catch fire if crushed or damaged, or that these batteries / electrical items therefore need to be disposed of or recycled separately to other types of waste.
Find out more information about never binning batteries and how to recycle batteries from Less Waste.
If you have any queries, please contact wasteprevention@leics.gov.uk