I see that Cllr Priestley has responded to Oscar's questions re chewing gum:
"Oscar,
I have spoken to the Head of Department regarding the chewing gum machine.
After chasing this issue up, I have been informed of the following.
I understand that a machine was given to Colwyn Borough Council by an oil company as compensation following a marine spill in the early 90s. This machine was stored at one of our sites in Dolgarrog. Unfortunately there was a flood and it was rendered uneconomic to repair and it was disposed off.
As my time as cabinet member I cannot recall such a machine but do remember around about 5 or 6 years ago, some sort of power washer, possibly this is the same machine that was lost due to the flooding.
I have been to several trials to look at machines and can honestly say although some are very good at removing chewing gum, these machines seem very slow. I am currently looking at another two options. One will be looking at another machine and having this on trial in different areas such as paved areas in Bayview Road, Station Road Colwyn Bay, North Western Gardens and the Cenotaph Llandudno, Ancaster Square in Llanrwst and Lancaster Square in Conwy. The other option is to get a private company in to do the work. I have been given a price of £1 - £1.50 per square metre to be cleaned.
Another issue to be addressed is that in some areas our pavements are shared with private frontages for example, Mostyn Street, Llandudno (the pavements under verandas belong to the shop fronts).
I am committed to my role as Cabinet Member for the Environment and also to Conwy County. I am working towards a solution to address this issue. I have also not ruled out working with a third party to help us regarding removing chewing gum, for example, Conwy could buy a piece of equipment and train the likes of probation services to use it. Thus reducing manpower costs. One company has just offered us one of their pieces of equipment at a cost of £120,000. We do not have this type of money available.
Sorry for the delay in answering your query."