StreetScene Services
Give us your views on
Fixed penalty fines Tackling Environmental Issues - dog fouling to
litter
Mechanical and Manual Sweeping
All adopted roads within the
Borough are mechanically swept on a scheduled basis dependent upon
vehicle usage. Where access is limited or the mechanical
sweeper is obstructed we will cleanse by hand for example: cul de
sac ends or roads obstructed by parked cars. All requests for
additional mechanical sweeping will be assessed within 1
working day and if the conditions justify it, the road will be
swept within a further 5 working days.
The Environmental Protection Act
1990 imposes a duty on local authorities to keep specified land
clear of litter and refuse. The Government has issued a Code of
Practice, which gives us practical advice on how to carry out that
duty. The Code outlines different types of land use e.g. industrial
estates and residential areas and shows how to assess the standards
of cleanliness achieved. There are four grades of cleanliness
- Grade A: no litter or refuse.
- Grade B: predominately free of litter and refuse apart from
some small items.
- Grade C: widespread distribution of litter and refuse with
minor accumulations
- Grade D: heavily littered with significant accumulations of
litter and refuse
The whole Borough has been
surveyed and divided up into zones according to usage and volume of
traffic. This booklet defines the different zones,
puts every street and open space
in the Borough into one of these zones, and contains photographs
which give examples of the standards of cleanliness that have to be
achieved.
If the cleanliness of an area
falls, the Code of Practice sets out a response time which is the
target for the Eastleigh Borough Council to restore the land to a
particular grade of cleanliness. Details of the target response
times are also included.
Graffiti
Graffiti refers to drawings,
patterns, scribbles, messages or tags that are painted, written or
carved on public walls, spaces and other surfaces.
- The estimated cost of graffiti to the country is over £1
billion a year
- The London Underground estimates it costs up to £10m a
year alone to replace all the glass that is etched with graffiti as
well as the £2.5m required to clear up other types of
graffiti
- 21% of people consider graffiti to be a problem affecting
the quality of life in their area
- 89% of local councils have a graffiti problem
- Criminal Damage Act 1971:- If you are caught graffiti
writing, you may be prosecuted under this Act
- If the value of criminal damage exceeds £5,000
the maximum penalty for those aged 18 or over is 10 years
imprisonment, for those aged 12-17 year the maximum custodial
penalty is a detention and training order of up to 24
months
- Where the damage is less than £5,000 the maximum sentence
is three months imprisonment or a fine of £2,500 for adult
offenders
To report a case of Graffiti please use
on-line report form or alternatively
phone
023 8068 8381.
Litter Picking
What is
litter?
Litter can be as small as a sweet wrapper, as large as a
bag of rubbish, or it can mean lots of items scattered about.
ENCAMS (an environmental charity who campaign directly to the
public) describes litter as waste in the wrong place caused by
human agency. In other words, it is only people that make litter.
The offence of 'Leaving Litter' (section 87 of the Environmental
Protection Act 1990; Article 3 of the Litter (NI) Order 1994) says
that if a person drops, throws, deposits or leaves anything so as
to cause defacement in a public place, they could be committing a
littering offence.
About £342 million a year is
spent by local authorities in England on street cleaning and litter
clearance, with the most common types of litter being cigarette
ends, followed by sweet wrappers and matchsticks. An estimated 122
tonnes of cigarette stubs, matchsticks and cigarette related litter
is dropped every day across the UK.
In a Local Environmental Quality
Survey carried out by ENCAMS in 2002, cigarette related litter was
found in 77% of all locations surveyed and confectionery related
litter such as sweet wrappers was found in 53% of locations. Drinks
related litter such as cans and bottles were found in 31% of all
locations.
Litter picking is carried out
continuously throughout the Borough, with busy areas such as
routes to school, town and parish shopping centres being visited
daily and all litter removed. We will deal with heavy
accumulations of litter within 5 working days of receiving a
report or complaint.
Dog Waste
Experts estimate that dogs in the
UK produce 1000 tonnes of faeces every day.
Therefore, it is not surprising that dog fouling is a major issue
in many areas.
" 95% of the British public are
worried by the amount of dog fouling in public places
" You can contract Toxocariasis from dog mess, which
could lead to blindness
" 94% of councils employ a Dog Warden
" 54% of dog owners stated that they had neither bought
nor used worming tablets on their pets
" The annual cost of cleaning up dog mess in England is
£22 million
" Around 1400 owners were prosecuted in England between
November 2003 and March 2004
" It is illegal to allow
your dog to foul in public and not clean it up and you can be fined
£50 on the spot or prosecuted through the courts *
" The penalty for not clearing up dog fouling can be up to
£1,000 *
* The Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act
1996
There is no legal requirement to
provide signs or dog waste bins.
Litter and Dog Waste Bins
The Council
has provided 750 litterbins and 300 dog waste bins throughout the
Borough. Our target is to empty all bins before they are full
or overflowing. If we receive a report regarding a
full/overflowing bin, we will empty within one working day.
Damaged bins will be made safe
within 2 working days, and replaced as soon as possible
thereafter.
Fly Tipping / Illegally Dumped Rubbish
Fly-tipping is the 'illegal
deposit of any waste onto land i.e. waste dumped or tipped on a
site with no license to accept it.
·
Sixty thousand tonnes of waste was dumped in England
and Wales alone last
year
·
There are approximately 50,000 incidents of fly-tipping each
year and it costs up to £150 million to remove the
waste
·
The most common types of fly-tipped waste are: household
waste, larger domestic items such as mattresses and fridges, garden
refuse and industrial waste
·
Only holders of waste management licences can recover,
transport, deposit or dispose of waste
·
The majority of people flytip to avoid paying the landfill
tax (which is the charge people have to pay to have waste disposed
of properly)
·
The Environment Agency investigates the larger scale
incidents of fly-tipping, hazardous waste and those involving
organised gangs of fly-tippers while local authorities are
responsible for clearing up fly tipping on publicly owned land,
including roads and lay-bys
·
It can take between four to six weeks to remove dumped
rubbish, depending on the legal process if the waste is hazardous,
the relevant agency will deal with the problem within 24 hours and
for very high-risk waste, the response is likely to be within the
hour.
The Council will remove illegally
dumped rubbish from the public highway or Council owned land
within 2 working days. For larger accumulations, the
Council will work with the Environment Agency to arrange
for the removal of the waste. The removal of fly-tipping
from private land is the owner's responsibility however; we
will provide advice on its removal.
Fly-tipping is an offence under
the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Refuse Disposal
(Amenity) Act 1978 and various Highways Acts
Fly-tipping fines can be up to
£20,000 and/or six months' imprisonment.
Shopping Trolleys
StreetScene will deal with any
abandoned shopping trolleys on the highway. An agreement has been
reached with all major supermarkets in the Borough whereby any
reported abandoned shopping trolleys are removed from the highway
within 48 hours.
If you would like to report an
abandoned shopping trolley, please use our
online form or call us on 023 8068 8440
Public Toilets
Eastleigh Borough Council
provides Public Toilets at the following sites in the
Borough:
Precinct, Winchester Road, Chandlers Ford- Bus Station Concourse, Upper Market, Eastleigh
- Car Park, Bishopstoke Recreation Ground, Bishopstoke Road,
Bishopstoke
- Abbey Hall, Victoria Road, Netley Abbey
- Foreshore Car Park, Hamble
All of the above toilets are open
7 days a week and are unlocked by 8.00am and closed at 7.30 pm.
Upper Market Street is manned from 8.30am until 4.30pm Monday to
Saturday. Each toilet is cleaned once a day.
Abandoned
Vehicles
Abandoned vehicles are those that
are:
- Untaxed
- Stationery for a significant amount of time
- Significantly damaged
- Run down or unroadworthy
- Burnt out
Untaxed vehicles in every
day use should be reported to the DVLA
Hotline: 08000
325202
If you wish to notify the Council
of a vehicle that appears to have been abandoned by the owner, we
would require the following details:
1. Make and model of car.
2. Registration Number.
3. Colour of car.
4. Is the car taxed, if not, when
did tax expire?
5. Location of vehicle i.e. Road,
Town, location in road, is it on public or private land
6. Your name, address and
telephone number (this information is necessary to enable the
process to be completed)
Please notify us by calling: 023
8068 8440
If it is found to be an abandoned
vehicle, a notice will be issued notifying the owner that they have
24 hours, 7 days or 14 days to remove the vehicle depending on the
state of the vehicle and its location.
Vehicles that are causing
an obstruction should be reported to the Police.
Abandoned vehicles that are on
private property are the responsibility of the landowner and they
have to make their own arrangements for the removal of such
vehicles at their own expense.
For more information from the DVLA please visit their website:
DVLA
Working with the
Community
National Spring Clean is an
annual ENCAMS (formerly Tidy Britain Group) initiative and
Eastleigh Borough Council has supported it for over 10 years.
Last years' event also raised £172.50 which was donated to the
Royal National Lifeboat Association which was nominated by the
Mercury Area Residents Association.
The event is held throughout
April and aims to encourage individuals, community groups, Parish
& Town councils to do their bit for the environment. All you
need to do is decide what, when and where you are going to clean up
and contact the Council to register your event.
The Council as usual will be
supplying collection sacks; plastic gloves and we will dispose of
your rubbish for you. We will once again be sponsoring the number
of bags of litter collected and this money will be donated to a
charity nominated by one of the participating groups.
How you can help us
- Dispose of your litter and chewing gum
responsibly
- Use the free HWRC's (Household Waste Recycling
Centres)
- Do not leave your dogs' mess for others
- Do not fly post. It is illegal and untidy!
- Do not park your car in a location you want us to
clean
- Get involved in our Community Clear Ups
- Report any StreetScene issues to us straight away by
telephone or online
Discarded Syringes /
Needles
Needles, syringes and other drug
related items are being increasingly discarded in the
environment.
There are a number of hazards
associated with handling these items and if discovered you should
contact us to have them safely removed and disposed of.
We advise members of the public
NOT to pick up syringes, unless it poses an immediate danger to you
or other residents. If you decide it is necessary to pick up a
syringe, ensure that you wear protective gloves so that you do
not come into direct contact with it, and place the syringe,
needle first into a bottle with a lid on.
Reports of discarded
syringes/needles/broken glass on the public highway or open
space will be dealt with within the same working day as the report
is received.
To report a discarded
syringe/needle please phone 023 8068
8440.
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Page Last Updated: 6/30/2008
Eastleigh Borough Council
legal disclaimer
Website Comments: webmaster@eastleigh.gov.uk
Eastleigh Borough Council, Civic Offices, Leigh Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9YN
Telephone: 023 8068 8068, Fax: 023 8064 3952, Text: 07797 877001
Email:
direct@eastleigh.gov.uk