Forum Topic

Street cleanliness - better or worse?

Do you think the situation is improving or getting worse?For 3 weeks running I sent emails to the council regarding the fact that rubbiish was all over the street even after May Gurney had been.A supervisor kindly came out and did a good job in sweeping the street and took photographs whilst he was doing it. I went out to thank him for a good job well done.The street cleaners are supposed to come out the folowing day after rubbish collection but this does not always appear to happen.Our street was NOT swept yesterday and I emailled the council again, so this morning a chap turned up with the road sweeping trolley but all he did was litter-pick so all the rubbish is still lying in the gutter!Has anyone else had similar problems?

Jean F Fernandez ● 5522d15 Comments

Did he have a broom with him?

Dee Cook ● 5521d

Dee he was oushing the usual trolley used by street sweepers so one would imagine there would be a broom included as part of the equipment.I didn't actually see a broom, just him litter-picking.

Jean F Fernandez ● 5521d

Worse I reckon!Here in Milton Road always spillage on collection day and despite assurances from the Council that the crew is supposed to clear this up on the day never ever happens.Takes a weekly call to get the street cleaned to a decent standard.

Roger Foreman ● 5521d

see below,taken from the Council's press release on the new £17m refuse/street cleansing contract:'The new contract will start in two phases from January 2012, and includes improvements to the current service. These include a better quality of street cleaning with more sweeping taking place. Streets will also be cleaned the same day as refuse and recycling collections, but after the collection has taken place so any spilt waste will be dealt with immediately – currently they are cleaned the day after a collection. Bins in parks will also be emptied more frequently. It is expected the contract will be for 15 years.'

Dee Cook ● 5521d

If cuts means cutbacks, then I cant see any problem with getting my broom out and sweeping my part of the street. I remember seeing those black and white films about London  in the 50s and it seems the housewives then would always be outside scrubbing the step and cleaning the path. Maybe some think that is beneath them now.

Munira Khan ● 5521d

The days when people spoke to their neighbours and hung pyjamas on the washing line even if they didn't wear them because they were afraid of what the neighbours would think if they weren't part of the Monday wash?It is a shame that it has gone the other way now with people not containing their rubbish properly and having no embarrassment at their neighbours having to tiptoe through it on their way along the pavement.

Philippa Bond ● 5520d

I always sweep my frontage - but there again, some people don't even litter pick their front gardens and pathways.  Usually those properties which are rented.

Dee Cook ● 5520d

I wish all property owners would keep their frontage clear of rubbish, sadly this is not always the case.

Jean F Fernandez ● 5520d

....and that of course is partly why we have a problem with vermin.

Dee Cook ● 5520d

There are several rental properties across from me and a couple of them they always have huge piles of black bags out the night before the refuse collection. They invariably contain food waste, which is always strewn across the road by the following morning as I leave for work, and usually still there when I get home in the evening. Maybe the "polluter pays" principle should be applied.

Jonathan Seed ● 5519d

Jonathan, why not email the Council's recycling department or customers@ealing.gov.uk with the address of the people who do not recycle - letting them know what the problem is.  They will then deliver all the 'kit' and info and with a bit of luck, your neighbours will start recycling and the food waste problem will go away.

Dee Cook ● 5518d

The new contract, cleaning on the same day should help

Bob Crossley ● 5516d

Now is the time that students move in for a new academic year into properties where the landlord may not have provided adequate facilities for waste.Email the Council and let them know where these properties are to make sure that they can get started with the right kit and information.(Today I see 10+ black bin bags in a pile with stacked empty dustbins and stacked empty recycling bins at a new tenancy. We have had postcards delivered saying the collection would be a day late...  I have to mention it before they think we have not noticed.  Otherwise it will only get worse.)Bob don't they just create jobs for each other - the collectors and the sweepers?

Philippa Bond ● 5498d

Generally the cleaners do a reasonably good job in our street, but I have on a number of occasions contacted the council via 'Streetwatchers' to ask for broken glass to be cleaned up after the streets are supposed to have been cleaned. When one crew came out to clean it up I had to show them where it was - they said they couldn't see it, even though there were large chunks of glass! They told me 'Oh, it's only a little bit.' They did proceed to sweep it up, but then had the cheek to ask if they could borrow a small brush 'as our's is is too big to sweep up the small pieces.'I have watched the street cleaners just 'litter pick', and not use a broom to actually sweep the streets - especially up Horn Lane.

Amanda Knights ● 5497d

Don't know if it's still the case but they used only to sweep once a month.

Bob Crossley ● 5497d