The summit itself was attended by 26 residents plus 2 local councillors, Marg Hickman and Hibaq Jama, as well as the city council’s neighbourhood manager, Kurt James. Some very clear messages came out of the summit about (the lack of) enforcement and the abuse and unpopularity of the area’s communal bins (aka skip bins. Ed.).
Residents spell out their message at the TidyBS5 summit
Another message that came out clearly was highlighted by Councillor Jama. She’s challenged council officers about the substandard level of service received by the residents of BS5 (principally Easton, Lawrence Hill and Barton Hill) and BS2 (principally St Pauls and St Werburghs). She related that officers use the mantra “It’s the inner city” as an excuse for their lack of action. The meeting also gave a clear message that this attitude is also not acceptable.
Down in untidy BS5, the fly-tipping is still continuing, as shown by this fine example of that environmental crime from Heron Road, Easton reported to the council this very morning.
However, word of this informal campaign by residents is spreading. Just ahead of Monday’s TidyBS5 residents’ summit (posts passim), news reaches my inbox that the litter picket organised in conjunction with the last Easton & Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Forum (posts passim) has been discovered by CleanupUK.
CleanupUK is a charity whose main focus is on helping those who are most in need, usually in areas of deprivation, to combat the litter problem where they are. Through involvement in this activity, people feel their communities are safer, more welcoming and friendlier.
On Monday 24th November, a Tidy BS5 summit is being held for residents at Felix Road Adventure Playground, Felix Road, Easton, Bristol, BS5 0JW (map) from 6.45 to 8.45 pm.
The aims of this meeting are:
To bring together residents who are concerned about fly-tipping, littering and rubbish and want to work together to do something about it;
To identify exactly what the problems are and generate ideas for how to solve them; and
To officially launch the Tidy BS5 campaign and a year of action to tackle these problems.
The meeting is being organised by residents, councillors and Up Our Street and will be chaired by local resident Liz Jones.
All are welcome and the local media have been invited.
What could George have been doing in Easton to have fled minus his trousers? Answers in the comments below.
Of course, as a politician George sometimes risks more than the loss of his trousers; he’s wagering the shirt off his back on 2 potentially huge white elephant projects in Bristol both being funded by municipal borrowing – the Bristol Arena and Metrobus/BRT, whose costs keep escalating out of control.
A couple of years ago, after a less than ideal consultation by Bristol City Council (my own street was omitted from the process! Ed.), communal bins – called skip bins by some – were imposed on residents.
They are not popular with locals since they attract abuse – fly-tipping by traders, dumping of recyclable materials by the uncaring and so on – and are unappealing to have outside one’s front door. They may be a good idea for block of flats if adequately screened, used properly and regularly emptied, but not for residential areas or shopping streets. Even in my own road where the communal bins never suffer the levels of abuse or levels of filling that they do in on busier streets, they are not popular with residents.
A local Stapleton Road resident has now produced a short video to draw attention to the problems they engender and her evident frustration with the council’s attitude to Easton.
As regards abuse of the communal bins, recent analysis of 2 bins on Stapleton Road by the city council revealed that their contents were roughly:
one-third waste for landfill;
one-third recyclable materials; and
one-third illegally dumped trade waste.
That analysis shows there is clearly a lot that needs to be done both as regards educating residents on what materials can be recycled, as well as enforcement, cracking down on traders who are not complying with their obligations in respect of proper disposal of the waste from their businesses.
When it comes to trade waste, the council has 2 options when it comes to enforcement action. It can impose a fixed penalty of £300 or taking offenders to court, where a maximum fine of £50,000 and/or up to five years imprisonment.
As regards the siting of communal bins, the idiocy evident in the video is not an isolated instance. Walton Street in Easton, which is some 300 metres in length, has one communal bin, whilst adjoining Northcote Street – a third of the length of Walton Street – has three!
If having to put out the rubbish on a cold, rainy night, I’d prefer to live in Northcote Street. Wouldn’t you?
Furthermore, it’s not just the major thoroughfares that have problems with fly-tipping, trade waste and the like, as this blog has previously highlighted with Jane Street (posts passim) on the borders of Redfield and Lawrence Hill districts.
Next month a residents’ rubbish summit will be held at Felix Road Adventure Playground as part of the #tidyBS5 initiative. Details will be posted here when they are finalised.
The protesters were supported by local councillors Marg Hickman (Lawrence Hill ward) and Afzal Shah (Easton ward), whilst a photographer from the Bristol Post also arrived to take pictures.
Other local residents also showed their support for the protesters by thumbs up signals, waves and the like, although we did get bemused looks from passengers on passing buses.
We want to get the message out there that people are sick of this mess and there should be more respect for keeping the streets clean and tidy.
“We realise that May Gurney and the city council are doing their best – this is more about urging residents to make sure they get rid of their rubbish properly.
Picking up on Stacey’s point about disposing of rubbish properly, the city council website has full details of what can be recycled. Recyclable materials happen to include lots of what is fly-tipped, such as cardboard from traders, or dropped as litter, such as aluminium drinks cans.
When it comes to bulky items like furniture, these can be taken to the tip in Folly Lane, off Days Road, St Philips, Bristol, BS2 0QS or the other one in Kings Weston Lane, Avonmouth, Bristol, BS11 0YS. Opening times are on the council website. Alternatively, these can be collected by the council, which will collect up to three bulky items for £15. All additional items are charged at the same rate. If you receive certain benefits, you are entitled to one free bulky waste collection of up to three items every six months. Full details on the council website.
It feels as if something is finally starting to happen along the Stapleton Road corridor on the fly-tipping and litter front (as well as on other problems. Ed.). Bristol City Council has helped draw up an action plan which will see greater enforcement and education on these two matters.
However, such encouraging developments should not detract from tackling the filth of illegal dumping and litter elsewhere in the BS5 area and Bristol’s inner city in general, which are equally deserving of attention.
A community market event took place earlier today on the section of Stapleton Road between Easton Way and Lower Ashley Road.
Image courtesy of Bristol News
Although interspersed with showers, the event was well attended and had such attractions as food, music, bouncy castles, face painting and – at one point – a samba band adding yet more sound and vibrancy to our main local street in this part of town.
The event was organised by the local community for the local community and has evidently gone down well with the people at Bristol News, who commented:
The amazing people on Stapleton Road are having fantastic fun today and doing it for far less money than Make Sunday Special has ever done. And more importantly the community is doing it for itself. This is the “real spirit of Bristol” not the water slides, skiing clowns and ambling bands.
It also shows a different side of a place that’s frequently just regarded, particularly by the rest of Bristol, as a source of inner city problems.
The struggle to clear the inner city of fly-tipping and litter continues (posts passim).
Earlier this week it was revealed that ward councillor Marg Hickman had taken Assistant Mayor Mark Bradshaw on a walk along Stapleton Road. Cllr. Bradshaw professed himself to be shocked and angered by what he saw. Let’s hope his involvement manages to stir council officers to take the area’s problems rather more seriously than they have to date.
Jane Street – a regular fly-tipping hotspot in BS5. Picture courtesy of @HelmoreAndHunt
My latest 2 FoI requests have now been submitted. Both seek to see how the BS5 area compares with the rest of the city as regards enforcement action as there is a distinct impression locally that the area is regarded as less worth bothering about than the city’s more affluent parts. The first concerns fly-tipping in the BS5 area and is reproduced below.
Dear Bristol City Council,
This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
1. As regards Stapleton Road (the section between its junctions with Trinity Road and Fishponds Road) in particular:
a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for fly-tipping on this road in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
b) How many people have been prosecuted for fly-tipping on this road in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
2. As regards the BS5 area in general:
a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for fly-tipping in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
b) How many people have been prosecuted for fly-tipping in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
Yours, etc.
The second concerns the associated problem litter.
Dear Bristol City Council,
This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act.
1. As regards Bristol in general:
a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for dropping litter throughout the city in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
b) How many people have been prosecuted for dropping litter throughout the city in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
2. As regards the BS5 area in general:
a) How many fixed penalty notices have been issued for dropping litter in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
b) How many people have been prosecuted for dropping litter in this area in the last last 4 calendar years and to date in the current calendar year?
It’s not just fly-tipping that’s a problem in my part of Bristol (posts passim). Litter’s an associated problem that makes the place look scruffy and gives it that intimidating air.
However, some litter is not carelessly dropped, but is carefully placed – preferably off the ground – so that the perpetrator doesn’t feel so bad about being anti-social, as in the example below.
Here’s a quick reminder for the hard of thinking: even carefully discarded waste materials are still litter if not placed in an appropriate container, like a bin. Not using a bin – or mistaking the street or public open space for a litter bin – may earn you an on-the-spot fine of £75 in Bristol.
As for those who drop litter next to a litter bin, words fail me.
Anyway, that particular bottle is plastic and can be recycled, so will be out with the rest of my recycling tomorrow, ready for collection.
