Extra Measures on Litter Not Enough Say Tories
Hounslow 'shamed' into action after being ranked as dirtiest London borough
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An extra £307,000 has been allocated to clean up Hounslow following a report that ranked the borough as the dirtiest in London.
The Leader of the Council is due to rubber stamp the decision to spend the extra money which is a stop gap after members of a scrutiny panel highlighted their concerns about the quality of the street collection service.
They recommended that the Council took steps to improve the service before January 2013 when it is being taken over by private contractor Vinci.
The panel identified shortcomings in litter picking and supervision which had led to Hounslow becoming the only borough ranked in the bottom five for all types of street care problems. They were the worst ranked borough for litter, detritus and fly-posting in London (see table below.
Figures from the London's Environment Directors' Network (LEDNET) show that Hounslow spend £12.15 per head on street cleaning which is less than a third of some other boroughs. Other areas of London spend less per head but are ranked higher.
Councillor Liz Mammatt, Conservative Deputy Group Leader, said, "Questions remain. The Lead Member requested up to £500,000 whereas £307,000 has been allocated. The two Area Fora where Conservative Councillors are in a majority, East and West (Chiswick and Feltham respectively) will not have Street Champions like the other three Labour-dominated areas so why the discrimination?
"We welcome the admission of blame and the belated remedial action but we shall be monitoring the state of the Borough to ensure that the expected improvement materialises.”
A Council spokesman said, "We are piloting street champions in three areas of the borough to help raise the profile of local environment issues, and try to encourage people to take action to make local streets cleaner.
"We are hoping to extend the scheme across the rest of the borough in due course, so we are working with residents to make sure they are happy with the condition of their local streets."
London Authorities Environmental Services Performance 2010-11 and 2011-12 Worst 5 performers of 20 authorities examined |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
Fly tipping |
Litter |
Detritus |
Graffiti |
Fly-Posting |
Lewisham – 38450 |
Hounslow – 11% |
Hounslow 21% |
Lewisham – 10% |
Hounslow – 5% |
Westminster -13824 |
Kingston - 10% |
Kingston – 19% |
Greenwich – 9% |
Lewisham – 5% |
Hounslow – 13158 |
Sutton – 9% |
Sutton – 18% |
Westminster – 8% |
K & C – 4 . 3% |
Camden – 8469 |
Croydon – 8.2% |
Camden – 17% |
Waltham Forest – 6% |
Camden – 4% |
Greenwich - 7993 |
Camden – 8% |
Lewisham – 12% |
Hounslow – 5% |
Ealing – 3% |
August 16, 2012