Clean-up campaign leads to big turnaround on litter and graffiti

A crackdown on litter and so-called detritus on South Norfolk streets has resulted in a big turnaround for the district council - in just 12 months.

That will be the message of South Norfolk District Councillor David Bills, Cabinet Member for the Environment, when he delivers his report to the annual meeting on Monday (12 May).

Every year, South Norfolk Council examines 900 street sites for litter and detritus, which is dust, mud, soil, grit, gravel, stones, rotted leaf and vegetable residues, and fragments of twigs, glass, plastic. It reports the findings to government watchdog, the Audit Commission.

In 2006/07, 5% of these sites had unacceptable levels of litter and 23% had unacceptable levels of detritus. This year, the results for litter fell to 4%, but dropped back sharply to 12% for detritus.

The turnaround is thanks to the Council's new flying squad of street cleaners who tour the district every day, responding to incidents called in on the council's free phone number - 0808 168 2999.

They are part of a much bigger environmental crime team, which also tackles graffiti and fly tipping.

The council's crackdown has won the support of Bill Bryson, President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, and really took off after the council brought all its services under one internal service group.

It then invested over £500,000 in the new service providing training for staff and rebranding them the 'environmental crime team'.

They got new vehicles, uniforms and equipment, including a grabber to pick up fridges and other bulky fly-tipped waste.

And they got high-pressure washers to tackle graffiti - a new service launched by South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon.

Now the council has invested in CCTV for use at fly-tip hot spots and elsewhere. The council is currently preparing its first fly-tipping prosecution, and details will be announced in due course.

Councillor David Bills said:

"We said we would get tough on litter and we have. It has been achieved with the dedication of the team and the people of South Norfolk. We will not sit back on our laurels and will prosecute where possible. Working with our residents, we will continue to keep South Norfolk a clean, green place to live.

"If you see litter or fly tipping, please report it on 0808 168 2999. We will follow up and where there is evidence of the culprits, rest assured we will come knocking on their door.

“All of us have a legal responsibility for making sure our waste is disposed of properly. So, remember - do not give your rubbish to any unauthorised individual because if it is dumped and can be traced back to you - both you and the perpetrator are responsible.”

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