Lewisham Council plan street cleaning cuts
Cuts to street sweeping are among a number of plans being proposed in Lewisham borough.
A council report gives a 90 per cent likelihood of making cuts during winter months on residential streets.
It sees the council see to introduce “a seasonal based street cleansing regime on residential streets across the borough to reduce the cost during the winter months when demand is lower”.
They state: “This pro-active approach will reduce the number of agency staff needed daily during the winter period” with the savings put at £40,000.
Reduced staffing
Fewer staff would be on hand after leaf fall season and early winter nights and lower footfall are given as reasons for a reduced street cleaning schedule.
On the flipside the authority may increase flytipping fines but put the likelihood of that at 60 per cent compared to 90 per cent for street cleaning cuts.
The authority is facing a bill of almost £600,000 for an early Mayor election after Damien Egan quit to run as an MP in Bristol.
Let’s hope this doesn’t fall on pedestrians as usual.
Less street sweeping equals more waste food on pavements. With the money they save on staff, they could perhaps invest in Welcome Rodents signs
Absolutely even more rodents (rats) is exactly what will happen Tim. Wasting £600K on a Mayoral Election as Lewisham Borough become even dirtier is not acceptable for residents.
Very bad idea for a council to cut back on services such as street cleaning.
This is one of the few council services that is experienced by everyone .
It is really stupid to cut a service that hits everyone.
Dirtier streets also attract vermin.
As for suggesting fly tipping fines will be increased – please !!!
You’ve got to find the flytippers first !
Is this the best Lewisham can do ? The Council should think again.
As highlighted it is about to spend approx £600K on an unnecessary Mayoral by election.
These cuts are hardly likely to go down well with the Lewisham electorate.
I absolutely agree with you Kathy. £600k to be spent on a local Mayoral Election just shows how much Labout Councils and indeed Lewishan waste while cutting essential services like street cleaning which helps to reduce rodents etc.
This should be a waje up call for the people of Lewisham to vote for change at the next Lewusham Mayoral Election and subsequent elections in 2024.
I would like to see the council engage more by adverting posters at crucial points like bus stops, encouraging street hygiene, during this time of staff cuts and shortages.
The community needs to be engaged in making the difference to cleaner pavements in Lewisham. The mindset and behaviours of users must be encouraged to change.
This change should start at schools in the Borough, then the wider community.
The outcome, less damaging impact on the environment, cleaner rivers, streets, reduction in rodents, etc.
Thank you.
Get your gloves on and get picking peeps. It’s good exercise and helps you feel part of the community.
What other services will see cuts I wonder 🤔
I make sure the road outside my house is kept clear of rubbish. If everyone did the same , there wouldn’t be a problem. But there are a lot of lazy people around who think it is okay to throw tins out of car windows etc . Spotted this last weekend outside Chinbrook Road Shops. !!!!
Lewisham Council should hang their heads in shame . Council Tax goes up and up and yet the services get less and less ! …..and to claw more money back off of people , they are giving
People fines for silly reasons . God help anyone a few days late of paying your Council Tax ! …
….they’ll charge you and summons you to Court ❗️
The gutters and pavements are still littered with leaf droppings and it’s January. Street cleaning is not where the council should be cutting back.
It is an absolute disgrace the amount of money wasted on local Mayoral Election for another useless and toothless mayor Brenda Darces on £85k like the past ones Daimen ‘Big Ego’ Egan on £80k and Steve ‘I speak a lot of B*****ks’ Bullock £77k. They is so much fly tipping on the streets and in parks now and nothing is done. The front line staff bearing the cuts again. They need to also look at the amount of hanger-on such as the amount of councillors as we don’t need 54 of them. I suggested at the last electron review about cutting them down to having one covering the North of their ward and the neighbouring one and the other covering the South of the their ward and neighbouring ward with a total of 36 councillors in total cutting 18 of them and cut their special allowances and other expenses and putting them on an employment contract with set hours of 36 hours per week including meetings and a salary of £25k and that they are forbidden from working for ANY other companies/organisation or hold any other directorships. Also cut the salaries of the directors to £65k maximum.
There is a set standard for the street cleansing which is set by Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFA)
https://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/documents/s67387/04%20Cleansing%20cuts%20and%20pilot%20trial%20110919.pdf
Set A: Litter and refuse in both relevant highway and hard surface setting
Grade A; No litter
Grade B: Predo
This the response times for clearing streets
A B C D
TOWN CENTRES & SHOPPING
A
B
C
D
1 TOWN CENTRES & SHOPPING
CENTRES
←
6 hrs
3 hrs
1 hr
2 HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL AREAS
← 12 hrs 6 hrs 3 hrs
2020
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