Over 150 streets, cycleways and footpaths have been cleared of litter, rubbish, fly-tipping and overgrown vegetation across key residential areas in Norwich as part of the Love Norwich campaign.
Teams from Norwich City Council and Norwich City Services Ltd (NCSL), which provides environmental services on behalf of the council, have been working on a rolling programme of neighbourhood clean-up visits to remove fly-tipped rubbish, litter and graffiti in public areas, tidy grass edging and shrubs, clean down pavements and sweep hard surfaces.
So far, the council teams have visited the districts around Motum Road in North Earlham, Sale Road in Heartsease, Springbank and Heathgate, covering a combined total of 101 roads, 2 cycle ways and 48 footpaths. The 14 tonnes of soil (equivalent to the weight of a double-decker bus) cleared from the edging of paths has been recycled across the city by filling holes and sunken areas on verges. In addition, 11 alleyways have been cleared by Community Payback participants.
Another eight districts are lined up to be visited in a continuation of the Love Norwich programme through to next Spring. The work so far has already seen a reduction in the total number of fly-tipping reports for Norwich which have reduced by 22.75% for the months of August/September/October in 2023 over the same period in 2022.
Love Norwich was launched a year ago to action the city council’s commitment to keeping the city a clean and inviting place for residents, businesses and visitors. A public consultation revealed that fly-tipping was a key concern, with 6941 incidents of fly-tipping between October 2022 and September 2023, costing over £348,000 from council coffers for collection and disposal. A key aim of the campaign is to reduce this annual cost to taxpayers, so that money can be better spent on vital council services elsewhere.
Love Norwich also aims to build partnerships with residents and businesses to effect real change where communities can take pride in their neighbourhoods. Awareness events are planned to flag up fly-tipping as a crime and urge residents to report any fly-tipping/graffiti they come across in public places to the council via its online forms. Community clear-up events have also been held in fly-tipping hot spots, with the council loaning equipment to volunteer groups.
The installation of CCTV in fly-tipping hotspots is also scheduled for the new year to help identify persistent fly-tipping offenders; while housing services is making changes to bin storage areas which attract fly tipping. Other longer-term measures to tidy up neighbourhoods include the building of bike storage sheds and replacing a number of city centre litter bins with larger, more modern alternatives.
The council has also set new set hours for trade waste to be put out for collection, in a move to keep the city centre of Norwich clean and tidy and free of bin bags, trade bins and pallets during the day.
Cllr Mike Stonard, leader of Norwich City Council, said:
“We’re really pleased with how the clean-up has gone in those areas already targeted. Residents tell us they want to see the city looking its very best with clean streets and less environmental crime such as fly-tipping and graffiti. The money the council is forced to pay for clearing up fly-tipping, deliberately left on our streets by irresponsible people, is money which would be far better spent on other vital public services.
“We are all responsible for making the environment we live in a better place and we know Norwich has a great community spirit, so we would urge everyone who lives and works here to be vigilant and do their bit by working with us. This could include organising or taking part in community litter picks, or if you see fly-tipping or find items illegally dumped on public land, then please report it to us as soon as possible via the council’s website.
“We thank everyone who is already doing this – but we know we can do more to make our neighbourhoods safe, vibrant and attractive places to live, with residents experiencing a sense of well-being and coming together to create stronger communities.”
95% of fly-tipping that is reported to the council via its website is cleared within 24 hours and increased reporting will enable the council to build a true picture of problem areas in the city.
To find out more about Love Norwich, including how to report fly-tipping and graffiti and seeing how you can help keep the city clean, visit the Love Norwich pages.
- More articles in the news archive
- Norwich City Council news RSS feed
