A week of London-wide enforcement activity aimed at tackling enviro-crime and anti-social behaviour in the capital kicks off on Monday 17th October 2005.
Hounslow Council, along with 27 other London boroughs, will be taking part to blitz everything from litter to dumped cars, and local efforts will focus on a different problem every day this week:
• Monday: Checking waste transfer notices
• Tuesday: spot-checks on vehicles
• Wednesday: Issuing fixed penalty notices for littering
• Thursday: Enforcing against obstructive street furniture
• Friday: Checking street trading licences
Organised as part of the Capital Standards campaign to clean up London’s street environment, the enforcement week has the support of the Association of London Government, ENCAMS, the Environment Agency, the Government Office for London, London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority, Mayor of London, Metropolitan Police Authority and Transport for London.
Hounslow’s Executive Member for Enhancing our Environment, Cllr Ron Bartholomew, said “Through our Smarten Up campaign, we have been encouraging residents and businesses to take pride in their borough, and to take a more responsible attitude to looking after their local environment.
“No-one wants to live in an area that has graffiti scrawled on the walls, abandoned vehicles left on street corners, and roads full of street litter or fly-tips, but these environmental eyesores can be found across the capital. We will be using this week to crack down on a wide range of offences and make it clear that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated in Hounslow.”
The pan-London enforcement action follows hard on the heels of the council’s own activities to crack down on environmental crime in the borough.
Under the banner of Hounslow’s Smarten Up campaign, officers have targeted smoking-related street litter by handing out STUBBI wallets for cigarette stubs, responded to over 5000 reports of abandoned vehicles, and worked with local communities and residents’ groups to organise community clean-ups across the borough.
Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (CNEA) 2005, came into force in April 2005 as a result of governmental concern that the powers, duties and guidance to deal with the problems of local environmental quality have not been working as effectively as they should be. Covering a wide range of issues, the CNEA gives local authorities tougher powers to tackle enviro-crime.
October 3, 2005