Clean-up is needed here (From Penarth Times)

Clean-up is needed here

11:18am Thursday 26th July 2012 in Letters

A WELL-KNOWN daily newspaper has been running an initiative to clean up Britain and I really hope that the Penarth Times and local residents will get behind this admirable initiative. However, with some of the people residing in Penarth, I am not sure that we will be able to achieve this. From Penarth Portway, Queen’s Road, Maughan Terrace, Glebe Street, Plassey Street, to Hickman Road and Marine Parade, there are many residents and fast food businesses that are just dumping their rubbish on to the streets, which invariably gets torn open by birds and animals strewing the place with their detritus (of which 95 per cent is observed to be recyclable). Once a week I clean Paget Terrace Park, and if I didn’t it would be covered in the rubbish blown from local residents and from those that use the park. The council must also share the blame for this sorry state of affairs.

I observed one council employee replacing a rubbish bin bag in a park and yet leave behind a large sheet of plastic that was only 20 yards from him.

The council always leaves orange and white beacons, sandbags and road signs, (from roadworks and closures) all over Penarth. The drains are never cleaned and many are blocked, with one near me that has a plant growing out of it.

The only time I have ever seen a motorised vehicle sweeper was at 7am when all the cars were still parked in the street so it couldn’t clean properly.

Council officials appear weak in enforcing landlords to take more responsibility for the behaviour of their tenants and for prosecuting irresponsible householders and businesses. In England some councils are now using photographs and then naming and shaming residents, and perhaps we should do the same. If we can get everyone to take pride and responsibility in caring for their own environment and get behind this campaign, then Penarth really would be the jewel in the crown. C Whittaker Via e-mail