Hyndburn's streets are the tidiest in the county

9:02am Tuesday 4th September 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Emma Cruces, Reporter

PEOPLE in Hyndburn are celebrating after it cleaned up its act and was found to have tidiest streets in Lancashire.

Hyndburn began a campaign to improve its cleanliness record after 30 per cent of its streets were classed as ‘unacceptable’ by national standards in 2004/05.

Since then the council has made massive strides acting against grafitti, dog fouling and litter dropping.

And only two per cent of streets are now unacceptable.

The tiny number of untidy streets makes the borough the the best in the entire county.

In the past year alone, the council has managed to reduce calls relating to street cleansing from 3.1 per cent to 1.9 per cent.

The council has become well known for its tough stance on dog fouling, with a number of campaigns fought to keep irresponsible dog owners in line.

It also has two street sweepers permanently based in the town centre and this work is also being supplemented by an early morning mechanical sweep.

Litter bins are also now emptied at least once a day.

Leader of the council Miles Parkinson said: “I think we can all see the difference.

“A decade ago you would have to really watch your step walking down the street thanks to irresp-onsible dog owners.

“It could also be quite badly affected by litter in areas.

“This is one of our front line services and it is fantastic to see all the measures we put into place pay off.”

The council is also planning on providing town centre street swee-pers with a back pack hoover, which is effective at reaching difficult areas.

The borough’s area councils and voluntary and residents’ groups across Hyndburn are also said to have contributed with street cleaning events where free skips were provided.

The borough has also been one of the first to ban dogs without leads from cemeteries.

It has also seen wardens use undercover snooping tactics.

And it once piloted a special street sweeper nicknamed the ‘Super Dooper Pooper Scooper’.

Comments (5)

9:40am Tue 4 Sep 12

lcjfm03 says...

This is good news but 2 comments on further need for improvement:-

1. Dog fouling in Rishton is still unacceptably high. Some dog owners walking their dogs to Cut Wood park through the housing estates regularly let their dogs foul the pavements (and gardens) and don't pick up.

2. Refuse collectors don't pick up spillage from bags on collection days. Often after they've left there are residual cans and plastic bottles left behind.
This is good news but 2 comments on further need for improvement:- 1. Dog fouling in Rishton is still unacceptably high. Some dog owners walking their dogs to Cut Wood park through the housing estates regularly let their dogs foul the pavements (and gardens) and don't pick up. 2. Refuse collectors don't pick up spillage from bags on collection days. Often after they've left there are residual cans and plastic bottles left behind. lcjfm03

2:56pm Tue 4 Sep 12

Noiticer says...

Litter is still a massive problem across the UK and especially in some of our local towns due to there being too many snack/ fast food outlets alongside the couldn't care lessattitude of many people and especially certaion sections of the population whose cultural backgrounds seem to accept being surrounded by litter as being OK. A tax on plastic bags and takeaway trays is required asap with the revenue being returned to local authorities for litter removal.
Litter is still a massive problem across the UK and especially in some of our local towns due to there being too many snack/ fast food outlets alongside the couldn't care lessattitude of many people and especially certaion sections of the population whose cultural backgrounds seem to accept being surrounded by litter as being OK. A tax on plastic bags and takeaway trays is required asap with the revenue being returned to local authorities for litter removal. Noiticer

2:57pm Tue 4 Sep 12

John Peters says...

I agree entirely with comment 2. Sometimes I wonder if the refuse collectors simply cannot bend down to pick up spills. Pointless putting out recycling only to find bits of it strewn around the street. I've even seen the collectors leave their spills behind (before anyone states it's yobs at fault)
I agree entirely with comment 2. Sometimes I wonder if the refuse collectors simply cannot bend down to pick up spills. Pointless putting out recycling only to find bits of it strewn around the street. I've even seen the collectors leave their spills behind (before anyone states it's yobs at fault) John Peters

10:55pm Tue 4 Sep 12

Black Car Guy. says...

The recycle team emptied my bag today and dropped a container outside my house. So i picked it up. I bet the most dirty street is Heywood Street in Great Harwood. I know the residents on Heywood street don,t get dressed till after 4PM and they don,t work. Also being tidy is bottom of their list. On a whole Hyndburn is a very clean area. Well done guys.
The recycle team emptied my bag today and dropped a container outside my house. So i picked it up. I bet the most dirty street is Heywood Street in Great Harwood. I know the residents on Heywood street don,t get dressed till after 4PM and they don,t work. Also being tidy is bottom of their list. On a whole Hyndburn is a very clean area. Well done guys. Black Car Guy.

11:31pm Tue 4 Sep 12

Pan-cake says...

With the proviso mentioned above regarding spillages by recycling day collectors, HBC should be congratulated on their street cleaning, particularly the town centres.
The efforts were stared by the previous administration, and much to their credit in these difficult times, the current lot have seen this as a priority and have carried on.
The anti dog poo brigade,as always, are always most vocal, and this news item excites them once more. However, when I see my council tax being spent clearing up after the 'night time economy' (particularly at 8am on a Sunday morning) II become equally excited. There should be some way of taxing pubs and takeaways that open during the night ( for this is where most of the town centre litter comes from), with the proceeds going towards the Councils sterling efforts to improve our streets and keep them clean.
With the proviso mentioned above regarding spillages by recycling day collectors, HBC should be congratulated on their street cleaning, particularly the town centres. The efforts were stared by the previous administration, and much to their credit in these difficult times, the current lot have seen this as a priority and have carried on. The anti dog poo brigade,as always, are always most vocal, and this news item excites them once more. However, when I see my council tax being spent clearing up after the 'night time economy' (particularly at 8am on a Sunday morning) II become equally excited. There should be some way of taxing pubs and takeaways that open during the night ( for this is where most of the town centre litter comes from), with the proceeds going towards the Councils sterling efforts to improve our streets and keep them clean. Pan-cake

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