Grime and Punishment (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

Grime and Punishment

April 28, 2009 12:00 AM

Councillors in North West Leeds have successfully lobbied for their very own Environmental Action Officer complete with van.

The North West Inner Area Committee has given £38,000 which will pay for a "Grime and Punishment Van" to patrol the streets. The van will be manned by a new Senior Technical Enforcement Officer to tackle the areas persistent litter problem.

The new officer will have powers to deal with littering, fly tipping, commercial and domestic waste issues such as waste left in gardens and bin yards and bins left on the streets.

This is all due to councillors work with the local Environmental Action Team. The area to be covered will be agreed with committee members before the project starts; this will include problem 'hot spots' in Headingley, Hyde Park and Burley.

Cllr James Monaghan (Lib Dem, Headingley), Chair of the North West Inner Area Committee said:

"There have been many concerns raised about the state of the student areas and despite many initiatives the problem still persists. The committee felt this was a necessary step to take and we will continue to monitor the situation.

"We want our area to be the greenest in the city and therefore we need to tackle this problem head on."

Cllr Martin Hamilton (Lib Dem, Headingley) added:

"It is unacceptable for people to leave rubbish and commercial waste in their gardens - it is unsightly and attracts vermin. This initiative sends out a strong message that this sort of behaviour will no longer be tolerated."