Current news
For applications to place a structure/equipment within the highway, please see: Information and guidance and Apply for a structure licence.
New Nature Network Launch
Wednesday 10 September 2025, 7-8.30pm on Teams
The Nature Network, formerly known as the Parish Nature Network, will bring together parish and town councillors, local representatives and active community members to share ideas, ask questions and learn more about what they can do to help nature thrive in their area.
The first online meeting of the relaunched network will take place on Wednesday 10 September from 7pm to 8.30pm via Microsoft Teams. The session will include the latest news on wildlife and habitats in Leicestershire, a talk on water vole recovery in the county, and an opportunity to put questions to county council staff in an informal Q&A.
If you are interested in attending, please email the Environment Policy and Strategy Team to book your place: EnviromentTeam@leics.gov.uk
Fab free Fare Summer Bus Promotion
A new initiative to allow people to travel free on bus services funded by the County Council will take place every weekend in August.
People will be able to enjoy summer days out to attractions such as Bradgate Park, Twycross Zoo, Gates Garden Centre, Fosse Park and the 1620s House and Gardens.
The Council would be grateful if you can share this information with your residents especially through local networks, newsletters, community groups and social media where appropriate: there is a dedicated webpage for this new initiative.
Surface dressing
It is hoped that the surface dressing programme will commence in April 2025 and be completed by September 2025 and road users are being thanked for their patience with necessary roadworks.
Any areas that cannot be completed because of the weather will be added to the next seasons programme. Residents and businesses will be notified prior to the work commencing.
See: Details of the planned locations that will be treated during the 2025 programme.
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.
Community Speed Watch 2025
Community Speed Watch (CSW) is an educational scheme run by Leicestershire County Council in association with Leicestershire Police to help residents reduce speeding traffic through their community. The scheme enables your volunteers to work within their community to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding and to help control the problem and reduce danger locally.
If you're interested or for more information, please see Community Speed Watch.
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
Local Transport Plan 4
The councils current Local Transport Plan, LTP3, is coming to an end in 2026, and no longer accords with national planning, transport, and environmental policies. It also has a limited focus on health and well-being and the potential benefits that active travel provides Leicestershire for local communities. We have taken the decision to update it with a new Local Transport Plan which will know as LTP4.
For more information visit Local Transport Plan.
The Environment and Transport Department is also working to develop supporting strategies, including Leicestershire Highway Design Guide, Electric Vehicle Strategy and Cycling and Walking Strategy which allow more opportunities for you to feed in your thoughts and views.