There was a featured letter in the Argus yesterday from a resident of Lincoln Street, together with a photo of rubbish strewn all over the street in front of someone's doorway. This very much reflects what many people have been saying to us, that it's a growing problem and is letting the area down.
The issue is in large part caused by people leaving their ordinary refuse (not recycling) outside the house all week rather than inside the house or in the back garden, and only putting it out on collection day, which is by law what you are supposed to do. In a street like Washington or Coleman where there is no space outside the front of the house, the refuse is essentially blocking the pavement, and, as the weather gets better, becoming smelly and unhygienic. When the seagulls get hold of it that's when it ends up everywhere.
I've spoken at length to CityClean staff about what is being done, and it really is not an easy problem. However, I do think that by focussing on the problem and bringing people together to deal with it, the situation can be improved. Labour's manifesto includes a commitment to re-introduce Grime-Fighter days, where council officers, police, parking attendants, trading standards officers, graffiti busters and others got together to sort out problems in particular areas. I think that idea would be of real benefit in this ward.
Aside from that, I think we'd get results simply from more persistence in dealing with the problem, following through with people and making sure everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing. And being prepared to follow that up with warning letters and fines where necessary.
It must be remembered that CityClean's budget this year has been cut, and this has affected the number of street cleaners. This doesn't bode well for getting the streets cleaner, but it does make it more important that we try to prevent rubbish being strewn everywhere in the first place.
Tracey Hill
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