Maidstone Borough Council covers approximately 152 square miles, 62,000 households and 145,000 residents. It includes Maidstone, the county town of Kent, which is a large and busy centre, and surrounding villages and parishes.
The Council's vision is to help people to live a better life by increasing opportunity, encouraging education and business confidence, reducing dependence and encouraging responsibility and fostering community involvement.
One of the Council's Seven Priorities is Maintaining a Clean and Tidy Borough
. Maidstone Borough Council
is an active member of the Clean Kent Campaign. Its procedures for dealing with fly tipping were used as a benchmark
for the County-wide campaign.
The Council's Clean and Tidy Borough Initiative covers fly tipping, abandoned vehicles, littering, fly posting, commercial waste, graffiti, gum removal, and the painting and renovation of street furniture.
The Council's clean and tidy mascot, Captain Clean, is the recognisable face of the initiative and can be seen on promotional materials and in person at school visits and clean sweeps.
The Council's campaign to tackle abandoned vehicles and its clean sweeps of the borough, led by Captain Clean, have been highly effective and praised by external inspections.
The clean sweeps take place a number of times each year with residents associations, youth groups, student clubs, local businesses and parishes partnering to tackle litter, fly tipping and graffiti. The Council provides support and all the equipment needed including litter-picks, sacks, gloves, hi-visibility jackets, brooms, etc.
The Council is currently promoting three strands of an anti litter message. Three poster designs are being displayed in
high profile sites around the borough with the messages You Know Where To Stick It
for chewing gum, No Ifs, No Butts
for cigarette litter and Not So Fast
for fast food litter.
In June 2005 the Council was one of three pilot areas to run a Chewing Gum Litter Reduction campaign paid for by the Chewing Gum Action Group (which includes DEFRA, ENCAMS, and Wrigley's). This was a high profile and successful scheme which involved local youth groups, schools and businesses.
There was also a very successful anti fast food litter campaign which the Council ran in the summer of 2004, and the Council is planning an anti cigarette litter campaign to start shortly.
Operations Cubit and CubitPlus are regular events that the Council undertakes in partnership with Kent County Council, Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue Service and the DVLA. Cubit tackles abandoned vehicles, while CubitPlus covers street cleansing, graffiti removal, minor repairs to street furniture and other issues related to anti social behaviour.
The Council has also been at the forefront of using remote hidden cameras in the fight against fly tipping. Using state of the art equipment the Council targets fly tipping hotspots. The Council is taking forward prosecutions using evidence obtained from these cameras. It has also taken prosecutions using evidence obtained by detailed investigations after the event.
A large number of Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued for littering offences using evidence from dedicated Street Environment Officers, other Council officials and in appropriate cases, evidence from members of the public.
Visit Digital Maidstone for general information about the area. There is also an area on the website for Environmental Services and information on Clean Sweeps.
