Last Wednesday, another of my constituents contacted me about the state of our borough. The opening sentence of his email read. “The streets in my neighbourhood are covered in dog mess.” Then today, while out in Avonmore Road and Lisgar Terrace I took these photos.
In 2006 the Tidy Britain Group classed Hammersmith and Fulham as having the fourth cleanest streets out of the all of the thirty three London boroughs. There was an election and H&F’s Conservative Administration then cut the budget by £1.5million (which was revised to a £980k cut in 2008). Now, it seems that people from all sides of the political spectrum accept that there is a problem.
H&F’s beleaguered council officials are naturally defensive when asked to address the issue. But, I also cannot see that any effective work is taking place to deter people from dropping litter or allowing their dogs to foul our streets in the first place.
The problem is made worse by the current state of the work-force. I’m told that the moral of front-line staff is at an all-time low, following cuts in their numbers, cuts to their salaries and cut their terms and conditions. They contrast their cuts with the fantastic salary rises those in charge are getting.Keeping the streets clean is one of the most basic roles that any council must undertake. H&F Council is failing at this. Letting them know this will ultimately help to address the situation.
Please email me here if you are unhappy with the state of your street. I’ll do my best to get H&F Council to sort it out.
2 comments:
As you maybe aware (http://arthurhendersonestate.blogspot.com/) this also explains why council estates are being used as dumping grounds (fly tipping) for off estate residents.
H&F Homes seem completely unable to deal with this. Two years on and nothing has been done to stem the litter & orange bags that are dumped here.
All you get is excuses, passing the buck then silence.
The Street Scene Enforcement team were the only helpful people thus far. Though there remit doesn't extend to estates.
Now that the problem is back with H&F Homes surprisingly matters have gone quiet.
Steve & John,
Problem on estates is HF Homes & Smarter Borough/ Streetscene are just not coordinated: a problem that predates this administration (and indeed the ALMO setup). Even worse where it's a housing assoc estate. Real problems over comms, enforcement & who does what.
Plus attacking the caretaking service doesn't help...
Post a Comment