GOOD and Green In Mid Beds
The report is a detailed picture of how councils perform on a range of local environmental quality issues on public land such as street cleansing and condition of highways and street furniture.
Mid Beds is responsible for dealing with litter, graffiti, fly-posting and fly-tipping on public land in the district. In the report the council scored ‘GOOD’ (the highest score possible) which is described as ‘an exceptionally high standard’ in the following areas:
Fly-tipping
Wastes Placed Out (for collection, not flytipped)
Fly-posting
Graffiti
Public Litter Bins - degree of fill
Litter at rural Bus Stops
Fly-posting at Bus Stops
There are however areas for improvement: litter bin cleanliness and condition; litter at bus stops in commercial/retail areas and among social housing. We will continue to work to address these.
Steve Whittaker, Contract Services Manager at Mid Beds District Council said: “Mid Beds is very grateful to its contractor, Verdant Ltd. in helping us to achieve this result.
We are committed to keeping the streets of Mid Beds as clean and as pleasant as possible, and to encourage residents to take pride in their towns and villages.
Whilst we are very pleased with the report, we must not be complacent and, by using the Clean Neighbourhoods Act, we have more powers to enforce against littering, fly-posting, fly-tipping and other enviro-crimes. From issuing Fixed Penalty Notices, carrying a fine of £80 for anyone caught littering to court action and possible imprisonment for the worst fly-tipping offenders.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
1)Since 2001, the Government commissioned ENCAMS to undertake the annual Local Environmental Quality Survey of England (LEQSE), to provide relevant and reliable information on the state of the local environment. This survey was increased this year (2006/07), so that every council in the country could receive its own individual report.
2)Overall Quality Standards
There are four overall quality standards used:
“GOOD” – an exceptionally high standard that is unlikely to be maintained in all places, at all times, but should be aimed at being achieved
“SATIFACTORY” – the site is not free of what is being surveyed, e.g. litter, however there is minimal presence of it, which is unlikely to be noticed by most people or be regarded as having a significant adverse impact on the quality of the local environment.
“UNSATISFACTORY” – the element is present to such a degree that many people will notice it and some may consider it worthy of criticism, leading to some complaints to the council.
“POOR” – element is present to such a degree, few people would fail to notice it and most would regard it as a matter for criticism.
