Hastings Fly Tipping ‘worst in Sussex’.
In an article today Hastings emerges with a rather grubby crown it shouldn’t have: worst flytipping in Sussex.
Hastings has topped a survey of local authorities in the county hit by people illegally dumping rubbish.
The latest available figures reveal that the town had 3,448 incidents of fly-tipping, equivalent to one for every 25 residents.
Overall, Hastings came 29th in the national survey of 325 councils carried out by a recycling firm.
Brighton and Hove was the second worst hit in Sussex with 1,809 incidents, equivalent to one for every 142 residents.”
If you see anyone flytipping call the council immediately to Hastings Council. (The council doesn’t seem to have an easily accessible phone number on their website to call, but at least if they don’t catch people redhanded they will clear up…)
Councillors’ report from Jeremy Birch
The monthly report from HBC.
• St Leonards Festival – Yet again an outstanding success. Thanks to the Gensing and Central St Leonards Forum and especially their officers for the huge effort they put in.
• Cleaning up St Leonards – We have repeated the seafront ‘grotbuster’ walk first done in 2000.
We noted down every building needing repair or redecoration and owners will now receive a letter encouraging them to take action. Failing to respond could result in enforcement action. If you own a building in our town you have a social responsibility for its upkeep.
When we did the first seafront walk we noted the derelict hulks of the Queen’s Hotel, Regent Court and the Marlborough, plus other smaller eyesores too. All those have been dealt with and the seafront looks much better. But with the salt air, buildings in this prominent location need regular maintenance and improvement. A high profile walk sets the tone and reminds everyone what we expect. The ‘grotbusters’ are on the case.
Cllr Birch had a meeting with our local police commander Chief Inspector Mark Ling to agree a get tough approach to street drinking and begging. We get complaints from residents who feel intimidated by groups of drinkers and by aggressive begging. They also complain of offensive behaviour by individual drinkers. A dispersal area has been declared on the promenade enabling the police to move drinkers on and this is being enforced. Twenty two of the thirty four anti-social behaviour orders in the town have been issued to street drinkers.
At the meeting we agreed to step up the joint enforcement activity between the police, the council and other agencies. We want a harder line to be taken by off-licenses with habitual drinkers. Just like the Bar Watch scheme, which agrees that named individuals will not be served in town centre pubs, so off-licenses will be pressed not to serve the well-known street drinkers? Habitual Drink Orders will be considered which make it an offence to sell alcohol to a named habitual drinker. In September we are going out with police to see first hand how they are dealing with street drinkers.
There are now more detox opportunities and improved funding for those organisations working with drinkers and we want to encourage street drinkers to take up these opportunities.
During August the council we will be launching a crack-down against dog fouling with some pretty hard-hitting posters and leaflets. Keep your eyes open – otherwise you might tread in something.
• 17 Pevensey Road – in this long-term unsightly property all the flats now have active leaseholders that to want to improve the building and this does seem to be reflected in the improved appearance of the property. All the flats with the exception of the side flat are now back in use. The council recently met with the leaseholders’ representatives and has been assured that they are working towards setting up a company to take over the freehold of the building. The council has also been in communication with the Crown’s representatives and secured their willingness to sell the freehold at a reasonable rate.
• Planning – The empty, semi-derelict shop at the junction of Shepherd Street and Gensing Road – 22/22A Shepherd Street – now has permission to be turned into residential use. Hopefully this will be implemented reasonably quickly and the appearance of the building improved.
• Highways – In early September the entrance to Undercliff by St Leonards Parish Church will be closed and there will be temporary traffic lights on Marina. This all to allow for the resurfacing of Marina (the seafront road). Around the same time similar road closures will be carried out to the entrances to Warrior Square from the seafront (although it will be phased so that only one is closed at any time). This again is to allow for resurfacing works on the seafront road at Grand Parade and Warrior Square.
• Councillors’ surgery – We are holding an advice surgery on Saturday 7th August 10.30-12.00 at St Leonards Parish Church on Marina. Do come along if you wish to see us.
Cllr Jeremy Birch – 425585
Cllr Trevor Webb – 451693
General News July 2010
General news about what is being done, where, why and by whom.
Not a lot of this gets reported and there are people doing lots of paid and unpaid work for the St Leonards community:
July 2010
Street Cleansing & Collections Operations Manager, Emmett Dunford, brought us up to date with new initiatives regarding cleaning and refuse collection. There is to be a crackdown on people putting bags out early for collection, and dog fouling, this will include fines and education. He urged anyone who has a regular problem with litter or rubbish/flytipping/graffiti to contact the council. (SBA will have a list of numbers soon which will go in the sidebar.)
- A new booklet it to be distributed to each household in the area outlining collection times etc.
- They are reviewing the way rubbish is collected and trialling new types of bins and collection methods.
Street Cleansing: We asked about the regularity of pavement cleaning for staining. The contractors have a set standard and criteria to meet with regard to all rubbish and cleaning, this is mostly self regulated, but is regularly inspected by the council.
We pointed out that it has been years in some areas since a deep clean has happened. He said he would look into this. (note: contractors were cleaning the pavements with water and brushes this week)
Refuse Collection: It was proposed that the council could consider refuse collection in the early evening say 6pm or 7pm, when the roads are quieter and most people would be home to put out their rubbish without having to put it out early in the mornings before they leave for work when the seagulls are searching for food.
We asked about the possibility of recycling food waste (this could reduce the amount of mess caused by seagulls ripping open bags to search for food). This is currently being looked into by County.
Other Matters:
Fingers signs/signage should be in place by September 2010, as will the trees that are to be planted in Kings Road to prevent people parking on the pavement.
The illustrated map of St Leonards is nearly ready to go to print. Overlays for the map will be available to purchase by businesses etc. e.g. holiday lets or a particular business can have their details printed on the map, and could be used for advertising, websites etc.
Terry Drinkwater has met with the council to look at the possibilities for planting up the 2 hexagonal planters on the steps leading down to the promenade by Warrior Square. We also raised the question on how much the ugly modern phone box that is sited next to these plants is used.
Terry Drinkwater is now looking at ways to improve the look of shops, entrance to the lower end of London Road near the sea front.
We asked if it would be possible for SBA business members to advertise (for a small annual fee) their business on the site with a photo and details. Bill Orton was happy in principal for this to happen and said he would speak with Matthew the website co-ordinator.
Anti-social behaviour new initiatives to deal with anti social behaviour and street drinking are under review.
King’s Road Blues: Observer article.
The downward turn in trade since the roadworks began in the Kings Road, and which has continued for some traders since the roadworks ended, has been reported in The Hastings Observer.
From the Traders:
“Traders in King’s Road said their takings had fallen by as much as 60 per cent since contractors carried major pavement widening work”
From officials:
“The aim of the work was to create a busy thoroughfare from Warrior Square Station to the seafront by using high quality materials and creating attractive squares, such as at Pevensey Road, with public art at various locations.”
Read all about it, as they say.
Update: Please see Julian’s comment about being misquoted by the Observer.
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