Had a walk around Colwyn Bay today with the Head of Street Scene and an Officer from our Enforcement Team. We have two independent audits each year by Keep Wales Tidy and the problem of smoke related litter is always highlighted in their reports. The problem has got worse since the smoking ban and I think that this needs the attention of all departments across the Authority and the Police. I have particular concerns about cigarette butts outside some public houses and cafes and feel we need to all work together to eliminate this. The Environment Department has and is investing in different types of machinery that can pick up this litter and we are also now looking at litter bins with a type of ashtray attachment. I don't think this will be an easy nut to crack but we must keep trying.
I think the message has to go out that it is unacceptable to flick your cigarette out of your car window or stamp on it and leave it on the pavement. I received a phone call from a person a few weeks ago complaining that her son had received a fixed penalty fine for discarding his cigarette on the pavement, she asked if I could help have the fine rescinded. I said sorry I can't help!!
Anon 09:50
ReplyDeleteI will not identify a member of staff but I agree and I have walked around Conwy. I have spoken to enforcement officers regarding a number of premises in the town.
What was the comment your replying too?
ReplyDeleteIt was a comment that mentioned a member of staff and asking if I had walked around Conwy recently.
ReplyDeleteWhats the problems with conwy?
ReplyDeleteI've just written a blog post on a similar issue that you may find interesting:
ReplyDeletehttp://llandudnoandcolwynbay.blogspot.com/2009/10/civic-pride.html
My thanks must go to Cllr Priestley for taking the time to write a comprehensive reply (over on my blog).
ReplyDeleteTo touch on just one comment - public toilets. I feel we need to develop a whole new mindset for the provision of public toilets. Take the redevelopment of Colwyn Bay promenade. Instead of building standalone toilet blocks that must be cleaned by council staff, why not attach them to the catering facilities that are going to be rebuilt as part of the scheme and have the leaseholder maintain them as a condition of their lease (in return for a slightly reduced rent, of course).
As regards reporting problems to CCBC...at the moment, there is a multitude of contact pages, forms, email addresses etc on the CCBC website. Just have a look at an earlier blog post where I listed them all:
http://llandudnoandcolwynbay.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-contact-conwy-council-and-get.html
How about having one webpage, where you could select the nature of your problem from a list, report its location, details etc and it would automatically be sent to the correct department. In the 21st century, all this can be done very simply on the Internet, no need for phone lines to be manned by staff at great expense!