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Clifton and Hotwells
Improvement Society (CHIS)

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Refuse, Noise and Pollution News in Clifton

Sharon Baker and Maggie Shapland
no bins
No bins

For litter, rubbish, fly-tipping, graffiti, vandalism, street drinking, drug dealers etc- all anti-social behaviour, ring 0845 605 2222.
Please remember that you can report illegal activities such as drink driving, drug dealing and suspicious behaviour anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

If you have any ideas about how to improve the cleanliness of your area, telephone (0117) 922 3838.

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Anti-litter campaign

George Ferguson, Bristol’s Mayor is launching a new campaign to highlight the cost of litter and to encourage people to dispose of their rubbish responsibly.

Litter is a problem costing almost £1 billion a year to deal with in England and here in Bristol over £5 million pounds is spent on dealing with litter. This money could be spent on other vital services that would directly benefit the people of Bristol.
More details about the campaign on the weekend of December 14-15.

Smokers Litter

November 2013: The Cabot, Clifton and Clifton East Neighbourhood Partnership Environmental Subgroup have as a priority to attain cleaner streets. They will be dropping in leaflets into hotspots to encourage businesses to make sure that staff and customers do not drop cigarette (or other litter) on the road or premises outside their premises. A Litter Clearing Notice may be issued and failure to comply can lead to fines.

Commercial Waste on the Street

23 July 2013: A national coffee chain was fined the maximum amount by the courts after it allowed rubbish to build up on the pavement outside its Bristol city centre café and ignored repeated warnings from the authorities.

They were ordered to pay more than £1,500 for allowing their rubbish to spill out over the pavements and for putting out waste at the wrong times, despite repeated warnings.

Streetscene Officers found the waste bins of the bar overfilled and insecure last year. This problem continued despite several warnings and a section 47 notice, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, was served in December. The Company ignored this and the follow up letters and so a prosecution was brought by Bristol City Council. The owners failed to appear in court on 17 July but were found guilty in their absence and fined £1000, with costs of £492.92 and a victim surcharge of £100.

Martin Lawrence, Environment Officer for Bristol City Council said (http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/community-and-safety/latest-news-safer-bristol) We do all we can to get business to be responsible about putting out their waste before taking it to prosecution. But if rubbish correctly is not disposed of correctly it can really blight an area and cause a health hazard and they should understand that we will prosecute if they ignore warnings. If rubbish is put out at a time when a collection is not due this can also have an impact on the appearance of the city centre. We gave them every chance to improve and we are pleased that Magistrates took the offences seriously and imposed the maximum fine” he said.

Eric Pickles, MP on domestic waste bins

16 August 2013: New homes should be built with storage areas for wheelie bins to end the scourge of “bin-blighted” streets in England, the Communities Secretary has said.

Eric Pickles is to issue planning guidance encouraging developers to create space in properties so bins and recycling boxes can be hidden away.

The guidance, to be published in August, will warn house builders that "unsightly bins left lying around the neighbourhood can damage the visual amenity of an area. Carefully planned bin storage is, therefore, important. Each dwelling should have enough storage space for all the different types of bin used in the local authority area (for example landfill, recycling, food waste). This Government is standing up for hard-working people and getting rid of barmy bin policies which made families' lives hell. I want to make sure families get a proper rubbish and recycling collection service for the large amount of money they have to pay in council tax.

For years, badly-placed wheelie bins and the proliferation of multiple bins have created a blot on the landscape. In streets up and down the country, ugly bin clutter has ruined the street scene and the look of people's homes and gardens. By ensuring that developers create appropriate waste storage areas when designing new homes, we can tackle the ghastly gauntlet of bin blighted streets and driveways."

Bristol does already provide planning guidance. The Bristol City Waste and Recycle document (January 2010) provides supplementary guidance to policy ME2 of the Bristol Local Plan and Core Strategy Policies BCS15 and BCS21 and emerging Development Management Policy Policy DM32: (Recycling and Refuse Provision in New Development).

Policy ME2 confirms that the provision of adequate facilities for the safe storage and disposal of waste materials from the site will be taken into account when determining planning applications. For example BCS 21 identifies waste and recycling during construction and operation as integral to sustainable design. The overall objective of Government Policy as expressed in Planning Policy Statement 10: Planning for Sustainable Waste Management (July 2005) is to protect human health and the environment by producing less waste and by using waste as a resource wherever possible. Through more sustainable waste management, moving the management of waste up the “waste hierarchy” of prevention, reduction, re-use, recycling and composting, using waste as a source of energy, and only disposing as a last resort, the Government aims to break the link between economic growth and the environmental impact of waste.

Gull proof bags

14 May 2013: trial of gull bags in West Mall and Caledonia Place at the request of the Mall Gardens Residents Association. These are bags which will hang on the railings and be kept by residents to replace the black bags of side waste.
caledonia place bins
bins
caledonia place bins
bags- neither option very attractive to the streetscape along grade II* terraces! Time will tell. To be fair, there are now only about half the doorways cluttered with refuse containers.

Household Rubbish on the street

Dec 2012: Households are required to have off-street storage if they want a wheelie bin and should only leave the bin on the pavement when a collection is due. If a bin is continually left on the pavement, the residents will initially be warned to remove it and given a reasonable amount of time to action this. Ultimately the bin will be taken away if the residents continue to leave their bin permanently out, although we always try to work with the residents to find a resolution first.

I have therefore raised a job with the Area Environment Team today advising them that this is a problem in Clifton and asking for residents to be contacted.

Should you have any further queries then please do not hesitate to contact the Customer Services Centre either by telephone, email, or using the website :

0117 9222100
customer.services@bristol.gov.uk
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/nav/recycling-and-waste

Cleaner Street Scene in Sight

Communal Bin screening

rubbish
rubbish

The unsightly bins in Victoria Square (by St Andrews entrance). RoseMary Musgrave had asked the advice of Garry Reeder to see if a suitable screen could be erected when the fountain is repaired. Sharon Baker had met with Trudy Feeney and Alan Cox of Bristol City Council on site to see if the bins could be resited in Richmond Terrace. It became apparent that relocation is not an option. It was agreed that screening the bins so that they are not so apparent when viewed from the Victoria Square area was a strong possibility.

Commercial Waste

Tough new rules were introduced in 2005 to remove unsightly rubbish from outside shops, restaurants and business premises in Bristol city centre. People walking along some of the city's most popular shopping streets often have to avoid piles of black rubbish bags and bins awaiting collection. Park Street, in particular, is frequently littered with waste put out by shopkeepers.

Traders will only be allowed to put out their rubbish during two-hour periods in the morning and at night.

The move is one of a package of measures to clean up the city's street scene, under the Clean and Green initiative, which is supported by the Evening Post. Talks are expected to be held with waste management firms over time slots for rubbish collection. Cabinet Councillor Richard Eddy, who approved the move, said: "This should put an end to the appalling scenes that we see in the city centre at the moment. "It's not just a question of litter but also hygiene."

The two-hour slots would be 7am to 9am and 6pm to 8pm. Traders, restaurants and fast food outlets would be issued with fixed penalty notices if they failed to comply with the new regulations. Persistent offenders could be taken to court and fined a maximum of £2,500.

Flyposters

A zero-tolerance policy was be adopted in 2005 where flyposters were put up illegally. This means that council workers would rip down the flyposters and the promoters would be billed for the work. Flyposters on posts (particularly round the Students Union) vanish overnight which shows the Council is doing their job,

whereas flyposters on boards are harder to deal with.

Councillor Eddy said this "carrot and stick" approach was favoured because the positive response from the industry and meant that his proposal of putting "cancelled" stickers over flyposters was unlikely to go ahead.
CHIS has long set an example by removing fly posters quite legally. Members are encouraged to do the same.

Domestic waste

A stricter policy over wheelie bins and rubbish removal from outside people's homes was alson introduced in 2005. The council want to discourage people leaving their bins on the pavements outside their homes. But Councillor Eddy recognised that people's efforts to get rid of their waste should not be hindered. He told council officials to draw up a report on the practicalities of introducing new domestic waste measures.

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