Apologies for the break but I am somewhat overwhelmed with domestic and personal
matters that threaten to bring Bonkers to a halt; but here we are with the
latest Places Scrutiny meeting report, thankfully not an especially long one,
you could call it a rather weedy one.
The charity Keep Britain Tidy has reported that Bexley has become significantly
cleaner than it was a year ago. Littering, fly posting, graffiti and fly tipping
and weeds all much reduced. Except for graffiti, in the region of three times better.
Councillor Diment said Bexley has far more bins littering it streets than ever
before. One at every bus stop and that is one reason for Bexley looking cleaner.
Weeding is not easy due to car parking, some of it long term, and it is likely
that before long, parking suspensions will be put in place before weed spraying and street
cleaning days. Councillor June Slaughter said weed killing seemed to be not as
effective as it used to be and the Council officer said they had stopped using
glyphosate in favour of an alternative which is about 40% less effective. An
electric weed killing machine is being investigated.
Councillors John Davey and Sally Hinkley both complained about street notices that are never
taken down and knew of some still in place ten years after being posted. Is it
ok if she removed them once their sell-by date is expired she asked? A Council
officer said that new notices are due to have an expiry date on them and
people
will be encouraged to remove them once the date has passed. As the link indicates, that is nothing new.
Councillor Philip Read encouraged people to remove any litter that lies outside
their own home. Why would anyone not do that? There is of course a litter pickers scheme
detailed on the Council’s
website. Councillor Read said he was
thinking of the area immediately outside one’s own home. “It is just common
sense” and it is. I do it but mostly on Friday after the bin men drop it.
Overall, the Country Style managers who were at the Scrutiny meeting seemed to be more
than happy with their performance and the improvements made since the days of
Serco. My experience does not lead me to seriously disagree but for a contrary view you
might care to read today’s Maggot Sandwich.