Forum Topic

re litter in Brentford

I contacted Mr Steven Curran regarding the abandoned police station to bring to his attention the litter that surrounded it. It has now been cleared  - so many thanks are due to him & his team for their quick response.Also Hounslow Highways have made such a good job upgrading the Thames Path which passes by the boat yard & finishes on Brentford High Street. It has new benches & lighting,& a grassy area - so I do hope people using it will take their litter away with them - which includes doggy bags.

Helen Coulson ● 3384d24 Comments

I'm glad to see that one or two people have touched on the problem, rather than blaming the council for not being the solution.It has become acceptable for many people to drop litter, of all ages. So make it acceptable to challenge people, shame them into picking it up. It is as much the responsibility of those who watch it happen as those who drop it.

Steve Allen ● 3353d

There is still major issues with rubbish on Ealing Road, particularly McDonald's wrappers and plastics - perhaps the councilors could force McDonald's to do their regular promised rubbish pick ups - or even sponsor bins in the area.

Vivien Longley ● 3367d

I agree. It is us - or rather SOME OF US - who just expect someone else to clear up after them all the time.Children should be taught both at home and at school to clear up after themselves but so often now  there seems to be a fight to fit everything in and be everywhere.  Teamwork makes a difference.It isn't OK to dump and it isn't OK to leave your waste or your bins for everyone to trip over.  Buy less, waste less and make less waste to clear away!

Philippa Bond ● 3368d

There's far worse to worry about than dog ends and that's Dog Poo.It also takes two seasons to disperse and breakdown and leaves toxins that can blind a child very easily, pass on Toxoplasmosis ( especially dangerous to women of child bearing age) which you can have in the blood for up to 16 years. Roundworm and tapeworm and a host of other nasties.Nowadays, Dog Owners are far more responsible and the vast majority clean up after their dogs, after all it could be their kids who come a cropper.Places are much cleaner than 20 or 30 years ago.But all the same it's still not an uncommon sight to see dogs mess on pavements and in parks and owners doing nothing.Like the tiny group of Uber Cyclists who give Cyclists a bad name and the tiny band of Jihadists who have tarnished the faith of Islam, negligent Dog owners are as bad.One united big push by authorities to deal with the few and we will all have much better urban places, safer for all.

Raymond Havelock ● 3370d

I agree with Adam, I can well remember being a councillor and people constantly moaning about rubbish/litter, when I pointed out that the council did not employ a gang of people to go around littering the streets at night, and that residents was where the blame lay, that was met with a degree of hostility. It is US who are to blame, take your litter home with you or put it in a bin, teach children not to just drop anything and walk off. If people understood just how much this thoughtlessness and laziness costs US, they might just think about it. Similarly the idiots who think leaving mattresses and odds and sods all over the shop to be cleared by the council is O.K.

Vanessa Smith ● 3370d

According to the news today it takes about 2 years for a cigarette butt to rot.  The last time we sat on Richmond green I could not believe the number under the growing grass.  Couldn't see the ground underneath because of the huge number, really awful for young children playing on what you assume is 'grass'.

Sarah Felstead ● 3370d

Well there you go Marie.  Spoken by the person doing the job.  Don't you think the cleaner could have posed this as an issue to somebody within?  If a cleaner has a number of droppings on their route wouldn't it make sense to let the street cleaners have a shovel for the poo and maybe that dog poo stencil and can of yellow chalk too.  Imagine the time that small change to the contract would save everyone...;) x

Sarah Felstead ● 3370d

No worries Guy, the particular corner I mentioned wasn't full of cigarette butts last night, but it was earlier in the morning, perhaps the guys were too busy to smoke yesterday.The whole littering notion of just dropping something other than in a bin is something I don't get, people's laziness and lack of wider consideration, as I said earlier we can have all the cleaners and the associated in the world but at the end of the day the problem will never be solved because so many people do what they want and don't give a damn.

Adam Beamish ● 3373d

Will LBH please come and remove the unsightly plastic wheelies which litter the small front spaces of Brentford's Victorian terraces? Why, there is one in my road which sits in the far corner of one of these small spaces which is not even used but which dare not be removed in case fingers are pointed even more than they are already. Beats a bush in a pot any day of the week.

Anne England ● 3374d

Forgot to look today Adam, sorry, and forgot to look at Enfield/Avenue as well (though I did report the alley up there and some flytipping in Challis).For a bit of balance, here's a quote from Keep Britain Tidy citing Hounslow Highways as the winner of their Quality Improvement Award:Over the last 3 years, Hounslow Highways have focused their efforts on sustainable improvement of the borough’s local environmental quality, believing it a vital aspect to building a positive relationship with the Council, residents and businesses alike. The solution to this borough’s historically poor cleansing results was to channel people, skills and systems more effectively. A fresh way of thinking, along with some new equipment, has invigorated the staff, leading to greater efficiency. Tremendous progress has been made by using innovative technology, listening to staff and residents, changing service delivery and conducting robust enforcement activity. The most recent LEQ survey from Keep Britain Tidy has shown very positive results across all indicators and there has been a 67% reduction in cleansing enquiries.

Guy Lambert ● 3374d

Thanks Guy, walking past tonight it's only a small area but there's a huge concentration of discarded cigarette butts where the car wash guys linger when they've got no cars to clean (must admit I hate the fact that the car wash is now no longer a DIY job, as I used to use it to wash my car and avoid valet type places, but that isn't why I'm moaning !). I'd hope that a word with the staff in the petrol station would suffice (not sure if you'll get much sense out of the car wash workers), I mean is it that difficult to get an ash tray and empty it into a bin occasionally ?!.But that is the problem with litter, you could have all the patrols and sweepers in the world but the problem will always exist because (1) people are so god damn lazy/inconsiderate, and (2) there's too many people in the world.  Sometimes I'm relieved to think I'll be brown bread in 100 years time when man has completion it's demolition job on this planet...

Adam Beamish ● 3375d

The litter along Avenue Road and Enfield Road  is appalling.  Doggy bags thrown over gardens and dog mess on the pavement. A real problem trying to manoeuvre a buggy pass it on the narrow pavement whilst avoiding oncoming cars. A neighbour spoke to a street cleaner and he said he couldn't brush it up as he would simply be spreading it along Avenue Road with a dirty brush whilst brushing up the litter.

Mari Austin ● 3375d

Thanks for your input Guy, but ... I wonder why our Councillors spend precious time following around piles of rubbish to get it cleared when there are 'street people' out being the eyes and ears?  I do so wonder.  Why not find the person doing the street cleaning and ask what their instructions are if they see rubbish accumulating or piles out of reach which are part of the street scene? Are our Councillors policy makers?  Maybe if somebody digs out the contract it will say to the cleaner 'wear blinkers and follow the gutter line' in which case who is going to challenge it or change it?In the case of the railway line it appears the topic has been wasting hours and hours of time and is still unresolved....pardon?

Sarah Felstead ● 3377d

Adam - I'll take a special look at this area and see what we can get done

Guy Lambert ● 3377d

The problem is that litter is an ever increasing issue, everyday when I walk from Holland Gardens to the station and back again there is so much litter, not big sacks or such like, but just bits and bobs aimlessly discarded.I get particularly annoyed by the employees of the hand car wash at the Jet petrol station who loiter around on the pavement smoking and there's always loads of cigarette butts discarded on the pavement.  Someone in authority should have a word - I would, but no doubt if I challenged them about they'd walk me 5 metres further along the road to where there's rubbish accumulating on the grass infront of the substation/Music Museum.

Adam Beamish ● 3377d

http://www.larac.org.uk/blog/litter-problem#.VzCkBfkrKhc

Philippa Bond ● 3378d

AhThis is a long running saga in which Dominic West is a major player. I was aware of the problem with Network Rail land around Isleworth station before I was a councillor, via the H Highways lay assessor programme.I'm not sure which ward this is in but I'll find out and alert the relevant councillors to this discussion.

Guy Lambert ● 3378d

Hello, Guy.  The litter is on railway land probably thrown from the footpath running under St Johns road railway bridge.  Point is, how many road sweepers have walked past as it is accumulating?  Possibly the beer cans are from the shops nearby?  Couldn't a road sweeper ring it in to negotiate a way of clearing or preventing it?Thanks for your reply.

Sarah Felstead ● 3379d

Sarah, where is that mess? Some councillor or other will try and get it fixed.One of the difficulties with litter is that some of the worst problems are on private land (the police station is an example)  or publicly owned land owned by other agencies (usually TfL or Network Rail) where the council contractors have no right (or duty) to intervene.I believe Steve Curran demanded of London Green (who own the cop shop) that they clean it up.

Guy Lambert ● 3379d

Sarah Felstead ● 3379d

Sorry Helen although it is good of Mr Curran to send your memo on to the litter people it would have been better for him to have identified why it was not nipped in the bud or cleaned up when it first started.Cllrs are often duplicating work that should be sorted out in the first instance by the ordinary worker, how many street cleaners have wandered past that spot and either not cleared it, or phoned it in to get it sorted?Cllr Tony Louki has written and sorted out several issues for me recently, I was very impressed by his response to my single email.  I need to write back to him with thanks.

Sarah Felstead ● 3383d

What would be inspiring would be a Borough wide litter pick day.  It would be great to identify hotspots like grass beside traffic lights where people seem to think it is okay spending their time waiting on a red, to empty their rubbish from the car.  I would love to stick a sign (two fingers firstly springs to mind) in the middle of those areas saying take it home with youThe worst areas seem to be where public footpaths edge railway land.  Take a look under the railway bridge in St Johns road Isleworth which is stuffed with litter thrown from the footpath onto the railway side.

Sarah Felstead ● 3383d

That is good news re the litter. Also, I must go and see the upgraded Thames Path you speak of which is not normally on my route so to speak.Re the upgrade of the Thames Path, however, I am dismayed to  have learnt of late that the design for the marina at Waterman's Park involves making it no longer a walk-through route. This is because the sloping exit at the end of the park nearest to Kew Bridge will no longer exist as a car park for the marina boaters will be there instead. I have got this information from one of the Waterman's Park threads on this forum and am taking the contributors there at their word. I have tried looking at the plans myself but can't quite make them out. Whatever, take a look for yourselves and if what is said about this proposal is true, I think it is appalling.

Anne England ● 3383d

so Mr Curran is not that bad... excellent news and well done to contact the council to bring the attention about the litter.Thanks

Domenico Urzi ● 3384d