MEET the woman being paid nearly £80,000 to try to put an end to Brighton’s bin collection nightmare.

Rachel Chasseaud has been employed as assistant director of City Environment, which is made up by the refuse service and park maintenance teams.

She has been in post for little more than a week and her main task is to improve the woeful Cityclean service.

As we have reported regularly since January, residents have gone weeks on end without having their bins collected.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s reasons for this have been dismissed as “excuses” by politicians including Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas.

Ms Chasseaud, who was previously head of tenancy services at the council, is aware of the scale of the job at hand – and will certainly come under scrutiny from the taxpayer with her £79,599 salary.

But she is focused on uncovering the real reasons for the inadequate service being provided and putting an end to it.

She said: “I realise there’s a great deal to be done and there’s big tasks ahead.

“But I’m quickly finding my feet with the help of the fantastic staff I have.

“There’s no denying these have been very challenging times, especially for Cityclean, and there have been a lot of claims and counter claims about the reasons for this.

“I want to draw a line under all of this and look to the future.

“I will be talking to as many people as possible, from front line and office staff to managers, the unions, community groups and elected members as part of ensuring I understand all I can about the service and what can be done to improve.”

Demanding

In June, the council blamed bad parking by residents along with a shortage of drivers and bin lorries overheating in the sun for the problems.

Last month the authority said there had been a high number of sick days taken, and a source claimed frontline workers had been working elsewhere for more money as binmen threatened strike action.

Ms Chasseaud believes the council’s staff are “hardworking” and she plans to get them working together “efficiently”.

She said: “We have many amazing, hardworking people working in the City Environment directorate and it’s my role to get all the different teams working together effectively and efficiently for the benefit of all our residents, businesses and tourists.”

Deputy council leader Gill Mitchell, who chairs the environment, transport and sustainability committee, believes Ms Chasseaud is the right person for the job.

She said: “This is an extremely demanding role which is very public facing.

Frontline

“We needed someone with a wide range of people and managerial skills and experience, and someone who not only applied for the role but who believes they can really make a difference.

“We chose Rachel because she fits every part of our strict criteria.

“And we have every confidence that City Environment services will improve under her leadership and guidance.”

Tory Councillor Dawn Barnett, who has always defended Cityclean’s frontline workers, also thinks the council has made the right choice in employing Ms Chasseaud – and expects to see differences before too long.

She said: “I think she will do fantastically well.

“She is very well- respected and very good at her job.

“She is a really nice, genuine, caring person with a lot of lovely qualities – she will succeed.

“Rachel is determined to do a good job and if she didn’t think she could do it she wouldn’t.

“It’s a big job and nothing is going to happen overnight.

“But give her a week or two and she will get to grips with it.”