The borough council is stepping up its Cleaner Borough Campaign by inviting residents, community groups, schools, parish councils and local businesses to play an active part in the fight against litter, graffiti, flytipping, abandoned cars and dog fouling. There will be a variety of educational and community initiatives aimed at encouraging people to take pride in their community and do what they can to help keep the borough clean. The council will also be cracking down on those anti-social people who continue to damage the environment and break the law.
Bash the Trash
Working in partnership with ENCAMS (formerly the Tidy Britain Group) the borough council will once again be helping community groups to organise Bash the Trash clean up events across the borough and it is hoped that even more local groups will volunteer to take part this year. The council provides litter pickers, gloves, tabards and refuse sacks and also arranges for the disposal of any rubbish collected. All you have to do is turn up and help for as long as you can. If you would like to organise or take part in a Bash the Trash event, please email or call Tamsin Ritchie on 01732 876295.
Could you be a volunteer Street Monitor?
The council's Street Monitors' Scheme has been running since April 2003. Street Monitors are volunteers who report issues like litter, abandoned vehicles, flytipping and graffiti to the council so they can be sorted out as quickly as possible. Monitors are not asked to go out of their way to find problems, but to report problems they find during their day-to-day activities by calling StreetLine on 01732 87 60 60 or by using our online reporter. Anyone can call the StreetLine number but Street Monitors can benefit from updates on the council's Street Scene activities and meetings to discuss on-going issues. please email or call Tamsin Ritchie on 01732 876295.
Removing graffiti
The council works in partnership with the Probation Service to remove graffiti in the borough. Adults serving Community Punishment use the Grimebusters machine to remove graffiti under supervision. The aim is to remove all offensive, racist and abusive graffiti within 48 hours of it being reported to the council and to remove other graffiti within eight weeks. In May 2005 the council was facing a backlog of 300 requests to remove graffiti. By September, after a targeted clean up campaign in Aylesford, Larkfield, Ditton, Eccles and East Malling, the backlog was reduced to just 50. Our latest removal programme has targeted the Tonbridge area but we still need your help to remove graffiti quickly and report incidents as they occur. We can lend you all the equipment you will need to remove graffiti, so if you would like to help tackle graffiti in your area please email or call Tamsin Ritchie on 01732 876295. To report an incidence of graffiti please call StreetLine on 01732 876060 or us our our online reporter.
Derailing the fly-tippers
The borough council has been working with Network Rail and the British Transport Police in a pilot project to tackle repeated flytipping problems around Snodland railway station. All residents living near the railway line were contacted directly as part of the project, with the aim of encouraging people to come forward with information that might help catch the fly-tippers and raising awareness of the damage that flytipping can cause to the environment. We are monitoring the results of the project, which is likely to be expanded to other areas later this year. Fly-tipping is an offence so if you see someone dumping rubbish please let us know by calling StreetLine on 01732 876060.
Flytipping on the Mereworth Estate
Working with other organisations
The council continues to work with other organisations in a multi-agency approach to dealing with environmental and crime-related issues. The council was awarded £10,000 from the Kent Fire and Rescue Service last year to continue with the Operation CubitPlus initiative, an extension of Operation Cubit (which removes untaxed and abandoned vehicles from the streets) aimed at targeting flytipping, abandoned vehicles, graffiti and fly-posting. One of the first areas to benefit from the Cubit Plus funding was the Mereworth Woods Airfield Estate. The borough council in partnership with Kent County Council, Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue Service and Public Rights of Way tackled a number of issues including flytipping, abandoned cars and the anti-social behaviour of some trail bikers who damaged the woodlands.For more information on any of the Cleaner Borough Campaign initiatives, email or call Tamsin Ritchie on 01732 876295.
