Cleaner streets

Time to discard the ‘mucky’ in Mucky Merton

WHAT WE’VE DONE

• Challenged Council bosses about paying the waste contractor Veolia an extra £1m per year to simply provide the service they’d originally agreed!
• Demanded action on fly-tips, after our research showed only 2% of fly-tippers were fined in 2021.
• Conducted regular community litter picks, and volunteer planting sessions, and tried working with Conservative councillors to ensure Haydons Road was cleaned up (although they refused).
• Worked with Council officers to address chronic litter problems on streets with flats above shops, by persuading them to introduce a simplified collection regime and tougher enforcement from this year.
• Pushed Council to address repeated failures to collect refuse & re-cycling from particular blocks of flats.

WHAT WE’LL DO

• Provide a waste service that works for residents by introducing our 5-point plan for a clean sweep:
  • (1) prioritising street sweeping after collections;
  • (2) introducing ‘pop-up’ waste skips in neighbourhoods;
  • (3) working to manage existing waste contracts better;
  • (4) solving waste collection issues for flats; and
  • (5) getting tougher on fly-tippers.
• Learn from councils like Kingston & Richmond that get a better service from Veolia, who are electrifying Kingston’s refuse truck fleet next year.
• Consider all options - including bringing waste back in-house - in the Veolia contract review.
• Promote civic pride with street planting competitions.