We are responsible for keeping adopted highways clean and litter-free, within the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act. We are also responsible for other public spaces, such as parks and play areas.
We aim to keep the environment as pleasant as possible, and have a routine programme of cleaning which is supplemented by extra sweeping when needed, for instance in busy visitor areas or after major events.
We do not have the resources to sweep all streets at the same frequency, and therefore try to reflect perceived need. We don't always get it right. If you think an area has fallen below the high standard of cleanliness you would expect, tell us and we will respond, possibly asking one of our Supervisors to visit and examine the problem. If we agree that the area falls short of the standard, we will bring the area back up to standard within two days - sooner if the legislation requires a more rapid response.
Cleanliness standards are described in the Environmental Protection Act. This specifies zones reflecting how busy they are for pedestrian traffic and therefore how much litter is likely to be generated. The standards allow us to concentrate on dirty areas and not waste time and money on areas that are already clean.
The street cleaning for the borough is carried out by the Council's 'Clean Team' Hit Squads.
Areas covered by the 'Hit Squads' are:
You can report incidents of fly tipping and graffiti to Environmental Services on 0845 129 77 77 or 01298 28400 or, alternatively, complete the following online forms:
Please note that litter bins can now be used for both street litter and dog waste.
We are not responsible for cleaning unadopted roads. If the road is unadopted, we would try to get the owner of the area to clean up.
We try to maintain the highest standards in our street cleaning work. We monitor:
We report on our performance in these and other areas in our Best Value Performance Plan every June, and also publish our targets for improving our performance.