Forum Topic

Watermans' Park

Walking through Watermans' Park yesterday morning was a more unpleasant experience than usual.  Apart from the slum boats (why have Hounslow not cleared these, as indicated in their warning notices?)the park was full, and I mean full, of litter. All the bins were overflowing - this was entirely predictable given the glorious weather on Saturday, yet it didn't occur to anyone to arrange either a late evening or early morning clean up.  No-one would have wished to  linger in the park yesterday.  Shameful. Guy Lambert, can you intervene?

Jane Dickinson ● 3302d19 Comments

Absolutely - the guys on the ground do a good job. But why does Carillion management wait until people complain before scheduling a clear-up? It's not rocket science - when it's been a warm weekend, you adjust the work rosters to prioritise clearing the popular picnic areas on Monday morning. Oh, plus more and bigger fox/cat/squirrel-resistant bins *please*!

Bryan Betts ● 3298d

No-one is suggesting the guys on the ground don't do a good job, but nonetheless there is a major problem (not just in LBH) with (a) overflowing litter bins and (b) the lazy attitude of people when it comes to disposing of rubbish.It's obvious that there needs to be more bins, more frequently collections/emptying of bins and better enforcement.  In this day and age of squeezing local authority resources that's never going to happen, but let's not suggest there isn't a problem.

Adam Beamish ● 3300d

The guys on the ground do a great job

Stephen Alexander ● 3300d

Carillion acted swiftly and efficiently once notified of the mess. They are to be congratulated I think, for effecting a swift and comprehensive clean-up.

Stephen Alexander ● 3300d

There was no escalation or struggle to get this done. Simple communication did the trick. Guy was contacted as he is at the top of the chain of command, so to speak. Things then happened at the speed of 'light' or close to it ;-)It's all really simple if people just communicate.

Stephen Alexander ● 3300d

No-one living on the boats uses any of the park bins to dump their rubbish. The boats use the designated bins at the top of the park.

Stephen Alexander ● 3300d

Pretty much ALL the parks need more and bigger bins - Carville South is still disgusting after the sunny weekend. Carillion is also deplorably lax in clearing up. Everyone knows people use the parks more in good weather, so it's blatantly obvious that they need to redeploy all available maintenance staff on the Monday after a warm weekend.

Bryan Betts ● 3300d

But why should it take a councillor to get involved to get anything done?They had complaints about the mess over a week ago and beyond.Why is it that local council tax paying residents get ignored when reporting these issues.It's not really fair on the Councillors like Guy who make a big effort. It gives them a load of extra work which when reported by you, me or any other local citizen, doing their bit should be acted upon without having to be escalated each and every time.

Raymond Havelock ● 3300d

I think there is something worse for you to comment on, Stephen as I think the suggestion might have been it is those common boat people dumping their rubbish bags in the bins ... ,no?We need some of those big campaigns such as the keep Britian tidy one of old.  Whatever happened to Blue Peter? ;) x

Sarah Felstead ● 3300d

Please review your post. If everything is OK, click Submit below. Otherwise,click the Back button on your browser to make corrections.Topic: Re:Re:Re:Watermans' Park Message:Well, Instead of winging as most people seem to do on this forum, to get the Watermans Park cleared of rubbish all that was required was an email to Guy. With pictures of the offending bins.With 24 hours all the bins were cleared. Thank you Guy on behalf of Park users, for your extremely rapid response.PS the reason the bins were overflowing was simply due to an oversight on behalf of the responsible for emptying the bins. They skipped a weekly collection during a very busy period for the ParkPPS I Don't like the expression 'slum boats' tut tut really nasty, vindictive expression

Stephen Alexander ● 3300d

I walk through St Pauls on the way to work in the early hours and regularly see people stuffing bags of rubbish into the bins.  It's not just in the parks either. I've seen it occuring all over the place.I've seen people crossing Burford Rd and Green dragon Lane to dump rubbish into the bins outside the tower blocks and walks on the estate.Do people not know how to dispose of their household waste?Are their wheelie bins always full long before bin day?I don't know the reasons people do this but it is a very common problem and part of the reason for the overflowing bins.

Martin Webb ● 3300d

And in Carville Hall Park - either there isn't enough bins or they simply aren't emptied frequently enough.

Adam Beamish ● 3301d

Years ago when I was on the Council I requested a dog waste bin for near the community centre on the Worton Estate and was informed the bin would cost £300 plus £100 a month to have it emptiedScandalous waste of public money going on behind the scenes

Paul Fisher ● 3301d

Is there any way to get more bins? And not just in Watermans' - the bin in St Pauls next to kids' playground is almost always full with litter all around it.

Alex Shpinkov ● 3301d

It's been just the same in St. Paul's Recreation ground.Litter exceeding the bins so left around them but then blowing all over the place and the collections are too few and too late.Rats in the Playground last Tuesday and a lot of evidence of barbecues.Plus shards of glass and broken lighters in the children's playground where some jokers have been trying to set fire to or melt the rubber flooring.A neighbour has reported the issues but what we both cannot get our heads around is that not one single parent has bothered to report these things. And yet they sit there, surrounded by this detritus, phones glued to their hands chatting oblivious to the dangers and public health issues.

Raymond Havelock ● 3302d

At 12.45 today bins still overflowing...and it's a park.  And the school holidays.  Sigh.

Jane Dickinson ● 3302d

On this occasion I don't think it's anything to do with selfish people.  Every single bin was full and overflowing so people had clearly tried to dispose of their litter conscientiously.

Jane Dickinson ● 3302d

I'm rather with Jane on this. Of course there are costs involved and yes it would be lovely if everyone took their litter home but they don't and it really does detract from the enjoyment of parks. Some of the litter in Watermans was full black bags flytipped there from I wonder whom?The council is in the middle of extremely complicated legal proceedings to clear the 'slum' boats which are actually sitting on land owned by the Port of London Authority, and it will tak a while to get through all that and succeed in clearing them.

Guy Lambert ● 3302d

Even I dont think its fair to blame the Council for not sending clear up teams round every park in the Borough on a Saturday night or Sunday to clear up after selfish peopleApart from the enhanced payments which would cost a small fortune to cover the whole Borough these teams would receive they are entitled to enjoy their weekends as much as any of usLets hope it is cleared today

Paul Fisher ● 3302d