feature: Cleaner streets
28 May 2008
A new litter picking service has been introduced across Haringey in a major drive to clean up the borough’s streets.
Haringey Council has just boosted its street cleaning in every residential road around the borough.
A new litter picking service has been introduced in every ward, meaning that all of the borough’s streets are now being cleaned at least twice a week. And some residential roads are now getting three cleans a week.
The new scheme, introduced following a successful pilot in five wards, complements the previous once a week street sweeping service and should lead to vastly improved levels of cleanliness in roads across Haringey.
Litter levels in the five trial wards – Harringay, Bounds Green, Seven Sisters, St Ann’s and White Hart Lane – have more than halved since the pilot service was introduced last autumn.
The initiative is part of the council’s Better Haringey campaign, which has seen more than £20 million invested in making improvements to the borough’s built and natural environment since 2003.
It also follows Haringey’s publication of a draft Greenest Borough strategy, setting out how the borough can best address a wide range of environmental issues over the next 10 years.
Cabinet member for environment and conservation Cllr Brian Haley said:
“We’ve said we want to be one of London’s greenest boroughs. Now we’re backing up those words with actions.
“We’ve invested heavily in the environment since we launched the Better Haringey programme five years ago, and considerable improvements have been made. But we know we’ve still got to do more to improve the appearance of our streets.
“The new cleaning service has made a major difference to standards of cleanliness in the five pilot wards, and I expect people will now see similar improvements elsewhere in the borough.
|back to top“But residents and businesses have a responsibility here too. I would urge people not to drop litter, but instead make use of the hundreds of bins we’ve introduced in the borough within the last few years.
Enviro blitz hits Muswell Hill
Rubbish has been cleared, graffiti removed and new cigarette bins installed during a special enviro blitz around Muswell Hill. The five-day Clean Sweep project, from 12 to 16 May, was the last leg in a 18-month Haringey Council campaign that has given neighbourhoods across the borough a thorough environmental makeover.
The Muswell Hill project included deep cleaning of ‘grot spots’, repairs to railings and stepped up enforcement against dumping in Alexandra, Muswell Hill, Fortis Green and Highgate.
There was also a pothole blitz in Highgate and Muswell Hill to address residents top highways priority.
The Clean Sweep programmes began in September 2006, following a trial in Wood Green High Road and Green Lanes earlier that year.
The project has seen the introduction of dozens of new litter, cigarette and dog waste bins, the planting of thousands of bulbs, and the clearance of hundreds of overgrown areas across the borough.
There have been dedicated deep cleans, repairs of fences, additional street sweeping, removals of abandoned vehicles, dedicated litter picks, blitzes on graffiti and recycling workshops and junior warden schemes for school pupils.
During the Clean Sweeps the council has also stepped up its enforcement action against vehicles
carrying unlicensed waste, residents allowing their dogs to foul on pavements and householders with eyesore front gardens.
Cabinet member for environment and conservation Cllr Brian Haley said:
“The Clean Sweep has been the biggest joined-up programme of environmental action ever undertaken in Haringey.
“I hope this will in turn inspire more of our residents and businesses to take greater care of their local environment.
|back to top“Together we can make Haringey a place that everyone can be proud of.”
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