Forum Topic

Who would believe it part two

From the ChronicleWas this problem not one of Labours key pledges before the last local elections?HOUNSLOW is London's dirtiest borough, according to shocking new figures.The borough is among the worst offenders for five separate criteria used to judge tidiness - the only one of 20 local authorities examined to achieve this dubious honour.It is in the bottom five for fly-tipping, litter, levels of detritus, graffiti and fly-posting, according to combined figures for last year and 2010/11 published last week by the council's overview & scrutiny committee.It is the worst borough, according to the statistics, when it comes to litter, detritus and fly-posting.Only Lewisham, which tops the list of shame in the other two categories and makes the bottom five in all bar one, comes close to matching the levels of grime found in Hounslow.Even boroughs spending significantly less per head on street cleaning than Hounslow, like Harrow, Kingston and Sutton, are performing better, according to the committee's report.Committee members criticised the council for doing too little to address the situation before a new £800 million PFI road maintenance contract, which will include street cleaning, begins in January.Although levels of detritus, fly-posting and grafitti have fallen slightly in the last year, the amount of litter on Hounslow's streets has risen during this period. Hounslow Council currently spends £12.15 a head on street cleansing, less than a third of that forked out in Hackney, according to figures produced by London's Environment Directors' Network (LEDNET).Colin Ellar, deputy leader of Hounslow Council, said: "For many residents in Hounslow the state of our streets and their cleanliness is the number one issue."We are taking steps to improve the situation now by increasing the amount of resources available, and we hope that as people see improvements, they will help us keep the borough’s streets clean."From January 2013, a new Hounslow Highways contract begins to launch the biggest programme of road, pavement and street lighting work the borough has ever seen, as well as improve the cleanliness of the borough."We all have a responsibility to help keep the borough clean and we hope residents will do their bit by not dropping litter or cigarette butts or leaving rubbish lying around. That way we can work together to keep our streets tidy."

Paul Fisher ● 4764d18 Comments

It looks like this road should be adopted by the forestry commission!!

Andrew Sibley ● 4734d

In order for the weeds to get to top of wall height, they have clearly not been sprayed.  A saving on spraying must surely be a false economy as after they get this prolific, they will have to be cleared manually when they die down?  What Vanessa says is true, this is the weather for weeds, but the response surely must be extra spraying to clear them?  Navigating the smashed pavements is one thing but the weeds add to the danger and increase the possibility of a pedestrian having a fall.  Shame on somebody for not quality checking the contract. :-(

Sarah Felstead ● 4751d

"However, the weather this year has been exceptionally favourable for weeds"Indeed, and other Boroughs appear to have reacted to this and acted accordingly. The problem with Hounslow Environmental Services is that thinking outside the box is totally beyond them. Its the culture of jobsworths.

Steve Taylor ● 4751d

It hardly helps hat the grass cutting contractors leave all the cuttings strewn up and down the roads, that must encourage weed growth. However, the weather this year has been exceptionally favourable for weeds as you would notice by your own garden.

Vanessa Smith ● 4752d

Hounslow is environmentally the dirtiest Borough in the UK

Steve Taylor ● 4752d

The Council says:"The borough has been divided into four areas and will be sprayed simultaneously using one vehicle and a team of back pack sprayers four times over the year. It is anticipated that three of these spraying periods will be between June and September and there will be another in April/May 2010.Our cleansing supervisors will monitor the scheduled work and deploy staff  to remove dead weeds as necessary."Sutton Council that is....JL

Jim Linwood ● 4752d

I don't see much evidence of Hounslow being a dirty Borough apart from the rubbish dropped each week by the recycling vans and Hounslow High street.  By the time the litter picker comes along the next day much has blown into front gardens and this can then be blown back on to the road after he has gone.I went for a walk yesterday across Hounslow and some of Ealing and almost had to use a scythe to get out of the Osterley area - has somebody stopped monitoring the weeding contract in this area?

Sarah Felstead ● 4752d

Pity that half the pavements are so overhung with bushes, shrubs and trees from people's gardens in Richmond that even me being an oompah loompah as my son says, has to duck to get underneath. Where are their inspections?

Vanessa Smith ● 4761d

"What about the bonus to lower paid workers?"Pay them a decent wage in the first place.

Vanessa Smith ● 4761d

Another important issue is the cleansing of dust and grit from pavements using special cleansing vehicles. If unswept, the grit will clog up drains and cause flooding. The only time I see these used nowadays is when I cross the border into Richmond.JL.

Jim Linwood ● 4762d

The Leader of the Council Cllr Jagdish Sharma presented an update in March this year at a Borough Council meeting of the five pledges made by Labour before the last local elections.Here is the update on their fourth pledge to us allPLEDGE 4A 24/7 team of Grimebusters to tackle graffiti, litter and dumped rubbishand a direct dial phone number for immediate actionContextImproving the condition and cleanliness of Hounslow’s streets and public spaces is a highpriority for the Council. Spending on this has been about a third less per head of populationthan the average for similar councils. To address this, we are planning major changes andsubstantial investment to address this and are confident that performance will improvesignificantly when these start to take effect from early 2013. Meanwhile we are looking hardat ways to improve Hounslow’s environment by targeting trouble-spots and respondingquickly to problems.4.1 Progress and achievementsWe set up the new Grimebuster service in April 2011, offering a 24 hour response toreports of graffiti, litter and dumped rubbish.The service has been widely advertised on cleansing vehicles and crew badges and inHounslow Matters and on the internet.A 24/7 direct line telephone number (020 8583 3344) has operated since April 2011 toreport litter, fly posting and graffiti on the highway. Between April 2011 and January 2012the team dealt with 612 reports.Since April 2011, the Community Environment Team has served 611 fixed penalty noticeson people for offences that affect the quality of our environment, such as dumping waste.Two Independent inspections during 2011-12 have shown slight reductions in the levels oflittering, detritus and graffiti visible in our streets

Paul Fisher ● 4762d

"people do it themselves, they are lazy and thoughtless."I agree totally.  However, that is an issue common to many Boroughs. The fact that Hounslow is now allegedly the dirtiest in the country has got to say something about the people in charge though. Why did Chief Officers let us slump this far?  Apathy, mismanagement?

Steve Taylor ● 4762d

What about the bonus to lower paid workers?

Keith Iddon ● 4763d

Bonuses should be stopped - if you are getting paid the right price to do a job why on earth should you get a bonus? That's what's caused all the trouble with the banks.

Vanessa Smith ● 4763d

The Council should be blamed if its terms are not tight enough to force a better standard of cleaning.And from something I was reading recently I am just beginning to wonder if contractors get bonuses if a Council can establish high satisfaction levels.

George Knox ● 4763d

I think you should also take on board that what Highways Inspectors there were have been subject - like all council services - to massive cuts. When the service was in house it was excellent - I'm afraid outsourcing was the death knell and the cuts were the bitter end. However, the public do have a big part to play - as I never tire of saying - the council does not employ gangs to go around the borough dropping rubbish - people do it themselves, they are lazy and thoughtless. They just don't realise that that in the end they pay for their own litter to be picked up,  we could all put our houses in order before laying the blame elsewhere.

Vanessa Smith ● 4763d

"Council relying on complaints from members of the public which isn't a very efficient system."This Council has never been very proactive - at best some years ago they would react to complaints but under the current Director of Environment they don't even react.  Hence our achieved status  "HOUNSLOW is London's dirtiest borough"

Steve Taylor ● 4763d

When I worked in Local Government (not Hounslow) in the 60/70s we had a team of what were called Highway Inspectors who walked regular beats. They reported on bad road/pavement conditions, flytipping, grafitti, etc and took action where necessary. These posts seem to be a thing of the past with the Council relying on complaints from members of the public which isn't a very efficient system.JL.

Jim Linwood ● 4764d