Dirty correspondence 2

And so eventually my councillor responded:

Friday 1st August 2008

Thanks very much for getting in touch with us about a number of issues with the top end of XXXXXXX Rd. If I can address each point you raise individually:

Fridges

I’ve just popped round to have a look myself at your road and I didn’t see the fridges you referred to. Can you let me know exactly where they are so I can contact the relevant Council team and ask them to remove them? From past experience they are very good and do it in a matter of days, but I will chase it up if they don’t. It is a shame they have been dumped in the street given that the Council operates a free collection service for fridges. If you notice this problem in the future the Council’s ‘ C2C ’ service (http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/c2c/) is a very quick and easy way of reporting the problem.

Rubbish in front yards

This is a slightly more complicated issue as the normal waste collection teams are not allowed to enter resident’s front yards to collect waste, even if it is in bin bags, as this would be trespass. However, the Council does operate an Enforcement Team who can clean this up once they have given residents sufficient notice (usually 6 weeks I believe). I will contact this Team and ask them to take the necessary action. Again it is extremely frustrating when residents don’t take advantage of the weekly and fortnightly bin collections, especially given the recent ‘Get It Out’ campaign which provided an extra 8 collections in the space of 3 weeks for all streets in Cathays!

Litter on the street

I completely appreciate the problems with bin bags being ripped open and litter subsequently being blown everywhere including into front gardens. It is a problem which affects a number of streets in the area, and the solutions need to be long-term. I believe the ultimate answer will be the introduction of wheelie-bins for the streets, such as XXXXXXX Road , where they can be stored easily in front gardens. There has been some resistance to wheelie-bins in the past, but I hope that a case can be made that they are necessary. Unfortunately it is not possible to get wheelie-bins in the areas until the roll-out of the new food waste collections has been completed, which in reality will mean not until next year. In the meantime it is really important that we look at the schedules of when litter-picking and street sweeping teams operate in XXXXXXX Road , and do what we can to get them to clean the streets immediately after the bins have been collected on a Wednesday as you suggest.

Resident parking permits

The decision to introduce residents parking bays at your end of Woodville Rd was made after a number of complaints from people living in the area that they were unable to find parking spaces. Subsequently a survey was carried out which demonstrated that there was a significant shortage of spaces at many times of an average day, and that a residents parking scheme was justified. I should note that even in this case only half the street has been made residents only parking, and there is no obligation to park in this half of the street and therefore to need to buy a permit. However, I appreciate your main point about the cost. I believe that the £5 charge is to cover the costs of administering the scheme, but I will double-check this is the case. The need to provide a stamped-addressed envelope is a little harder to explain, and I will enquire with the team who operate the scheme why they regard this as necessary. When I hear anything I will let you know, although I should note that I am away for a couple of weeks during August so if there is a delay that will be why.

I hope the above helps to answer some of the queries, and most importantly I hope that we see some improvements in the area in the not-too-distant future as a result. As I said earlier, I’m grateful for you letting us know about these problems as it really helps us to prioritise the Council services we have available in the area.

Best wishes

Dirty correspondence 1

I've been exchanging words recently with my local MP - and not for the first time. I thought I'd dig out the correspondence to bring you up to speed:

This was my first email sent 31 July 2008

> For the Cathays Focus Team,
>
> I'm sending a quick email in the hope of some action
> in my local area. I live at XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Road and
> have recently been really disgusted by the state of
> the road.
>
> There are a number of empty/old/broken fridges outside
> the Electrical store opposite the pub
> which have been lay at the side of the road for a few
> months now.
>
> There are also a large number of houses who are
> filling up their front yards with rubbish and do not
> seem to have been asked to clean them up. Rubbish is
> blowing down the street and into the yards of other
> cleaner neighbours! The sheer amount of rubbish in
> these yards is definately likely to cause rat problems
> and continues all the way up the road.
>
> Whilst I'm in my 20's and able to pop out and clean up
> my yard on a regular basis I feel sorry for my elderly
> neighbours who need to clean theirs.
>
> Also litter is often left out too late on collection
> day and therefore left on the street for another week
> and the bags are picked apart by seagulls.
>
> After the collection yesterday when I walked home from
> work the pavement was full of rubbish left over that
> the bin men refuse to pick up after the bags have
> split. Can a street cleaner be sent down after the bin
> men? Should the bin men be encourage to clean up split
> bags? If a seagull or cat has ripped open the bag
> overnight it is hardly the residents fault.
>
> I'd really appreciate some council assistance in
> getting this road tidyed up. It's a nice area to live
> but is currently looking really bedraggled.
>
> I have just sent off payment for permit parking for
> this area - not only do I now have to pay to park on
> my own road (to discourage non-residents from parking
> there) but I am even asked to enclose a stamped
> addressed envelope! What is my £5 for a permit for? A
> second permit costs £30... I can't believe the council
> are so short of money that I need to include my own
> postage paid envelope. If having to pay for your
> permit isn't galling enough, having to put a SAE in
> certainly is!
>
> Anyway, here is hoping that you can arrange for these
> problems to be looked at - at least a van to collect
> the abandoned fridges and waste would be appreciated.
>
> Kind Regards
>