Pavements??

[apbremer]

Doesn't the Council usually clear fallen leaves from the pavements?? They seem to be inches deep in slippery rotting debris~very dangerous. Don't say Wicked Tory Cuts as they are too timid and minimal to affect this!!

[James Barber]

Hi apbremer,

Yes but mostly no....

Southwark Council reduced the street sweeping to once a month. So yes they do, but at that frequency it feels like no.

When my lot led the council we employed lots of extra staff for leaf fall periods - Labour then made a big fuss about how much we were spending on consultants (which was largely this type of work but in the accounts listed as consultants) and it helped them win an election.

Locally in East Dulwich we've used devolved capital and revenue funds to buy a mechanical sweeper. But the one purchased only has the brushes at the front. We're looking at another with vacuum sucker so litter and leaves around parked cars can be sucked up as well. But we've not cracked making the change from daily to monthly street sweeping work. Funny that some say all politicians are the same. In Southwark the two main political parties have very different emphasis on litter and eco crime.

[apbremer]

Thank you for replying so promptly and as such length~ I just hope that all my limbs are still intact by the date of the Big Clear Up!!

[Mike Dodd]

James please dont blame others for your mess ..Labour did make a fuss quite rightly about how much your lot was wasting on "consultants" seems to me jobs for the boys

[LadyNorwood]

Here's a thought - how about people sweeping the leaves outside their homes into a pile (a) against their fence/wall; (b) into the gutter; © into a carrier bag and sticking it in a bin..... then perhaps we could all start to recreate a sense of community instead of bitching about things not getting done???

[James Barber]

Like I said Mike.

Keeping the streets clean was a priority for Lib Dems in Southwark - and we used a lot of seasonal contract staff to achieve thiswho were logged under consultants in the councils budgets. Other parties have other priorities.

I don't know any boys that were employed as a result. But if you feel anything inappropriate occurred contact the Police borough commander so a criminal investigation can take place.

Hi LadyNorwood,

I spotted a lady last night doing this on Calton Avenue.

[bonaome]

I may be alone, but I'd much rather public money was spent on keeping the streets clean than on this http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,1426742, or this http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,1423829.

[vicki08]

Does anyone know why the street bins have been removed from underhill road plus the dog waste bins

[85volga]

I would agree totally with the original post.

In my case according the official scheduling my street gets swept 12 times a year , once a month !!. But the street in the front every day AM/PM. So when the gutters leading to my closest drain clog up I'm out there sweeping and cleaning them out to clear them, I then sweep them into the main street to meet the twice daily street sweeping machine to pick up.

Also council bins were removed from my corner for no particular reason, so the taxi drivers just drop there rubbish in the gutter whilst waiting and drive off. Southwark need to get "Real" and maintain the streets much better, perhaps I need to submit a invoice for my efforts twice a week ?

[DulwichFox]

vicki08 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Does anyone know why the street bins have been

> removed from underhill road plus the dog waste

> bins

Yes. Southwark Council are now enforcing litter fines.

We issue ?75 fixed penalty notices, commonly known as fines, to anyone caught littering or ?50 for leaving dog mess in public. The Magistrate's Court can also issue fines of up to ?2,500 for the more serious crimes.

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200178/environmental_crime/773/fixed_penalty_noticesfines

Its a sinister plot to 'encourage' people to drop litter to make money from fines.

And save more money from not having to empty bins filled by law abiding members of the public.

DulwichFox

[Nigello]

Lady N, I salute you. I doubt you'll get many acolytes but it's worth a try.

[Alex K]

And in a few weeks, a few months -- "Why doesn't the council shovel my walks?"

Grrrr.

"Why doesn't the council spoon-feed me?"

James, if you can introduce a measure that makes the freeholder -- council, landlord, private individual(s) -- responsible for clearing leaves and snow from walks along her property's street footage, with fines and back-up via council workmen if snow / ice, in particular, are not removed to published standard within twenty-four hours after a storm is over, you will be a hero.

Obligations of this sort, embodied in municipal ordinances, are the rule rather than the exception in many USA localities. If we can adopt Black Friday from the Yanks, we can adopt this do-it-yourself approach as well.

[Nigello]

The best you can do, Alex K, is just do it and hope that your actions will encourage others. That's it - nothing more. This goes for leaf clearing/litter removal/fly-tipping reporting/hedge trimming, but expect to be deprecated as a busy-body by some.

[James Barber]

Hi volga85,

Tell me where litter bins were removed and I'll get them put back.

Hi Alex K,

I think a large social shift would be required. Southark council could explore this but it would then need to enforce it. With so many people moving in and out it would be a constant large education campaign.

I think this would need to be bigger than Dulwich or Southwark to work.

[Lynne]

I've had 3 elderly relatives hopitalised within a fortnight due to slipping (not in Southwark,of course) so it is a real problem

[Penguin68]

responsible for clearing leaves and snow from walks along her property's street footage, with fines and back-up via council workmen if snow / ice, in particular, are not removed to published standard within twenty-four hours after a storm is over, you will be a hero.

And your reponse to the elderly, the disabled, those not at home (i.e. on holiday or working away from home)? I do clear the path outside my own house when it snows, although finding where to put the cleared snow which doesn't either move the problem to someone else, or block the road making parking by others difficult is sometimes an issue. For leaves, any type of wind means that a cleared path is quickly uncleared - for those who work clearing can only happen during the evenings.

The idea that we should be (legally enforecably) responsible for the area around our curtilage is superficially attractive but would, I think, open numerous cans of worms. I am sure that councils would be only too happy to levy fines on all and sundry, for anything they can. Which doesn't mean that we should encourage or enable them.

[uncleglen]

I regularly see litter pickers around....including on Saturdays. I am cynical and believe that whenever you have a Labour council and a Tory government the Council will divert monies away from front line services (and increase the admin staff) and cause the ordinary person aggro and then blame it on central government cuts. Because of local democracy, once the council has the wedge of cash from central government they can do whatever they want!

[Gunore]

I am wondering why the council only did half of our street?!!!

[DulwichFox]

There is a TV programme Don't Mess with Me that asks members of the public

to pick up rubbish and 'Put it in the Bin'

Well be careful if you do. You could get a fine if the piece of litter is deemed as 'domestic'

A man has been issued with a ?50 fine for "misusing" a litter bin - by putting rubbish in it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1512599/50-fine-for-putting-rubbish-in-litter-bin.html

DulwichFox

[James Barber]

Hi Gunore,

The litter pickers probably ran out of time. I'm sure they'll finish it of in the next day or so.

Hi uncleglen,

You will always have some people getting that impression. I think it is more to do with different parties with different policies spending money on different priorities to them.