One of the complaints we hear most frequently relates to waste and dumping of rubbish. Our City Inspectors continue to issue fly-tipping fines in record numbers but this is still not achieving the desired long-term change. One of the issues for us in Pimlico is that there is a large turnover of the population. Across Westminster, this is over 30% a year. This has a knock-on effect as new people moving into the area are not always aware of the waste and recycling services provided by the Council.
In our December 2017 ‘Waste and Recycling Special’ Newsletter, we committed to ensuring that the Council continues to investigate rubbish ‘hotspots’ and fine those persistently failing to adhere to the correct collection times. To bring that into effect, a new Street Waste Action Team (SWAT) has been formed to tackle these problems.
The key objectives for the team are:
- To reduce rubbish dumping on our streets;
- To ensure all residents are aware of how and when to dispose of their rubbish and recycling;
- To ensure residents understand the best ways to report problems to us so they can be tackled quickly and effectively.
The new team will continue to issue fly-tipping fines as appropriate but achieving permanent behavioural change will be more important.
They will have a highly visible presence on the streets with a particular focus on the early morning and evening periods when much of the dumping seems to happen. The team is planning to be in Warwick Ward for at least 4-6 weeks (from around Monday 19th March 2018).
A new development is that residents will be able to help in deciding where and how the SWAT team would be best deployed by filling out the on-line survey. Please click here to fill in the survey. If there is sufficient interest, the team will also be holding a public meeting to discuss the campaign. The survey includes a question asking if you would be interested in attending.
