Keep it clean

(Date of issue: Friday, 28 August 2009)

Local St Aidan’s ward residents are being urged to support a week-long Big Tidy Up campaign.

During Monday, 7 September and Sunday, 13 September, Carlisle City Council and partners, is planning a comprehensive clean-up of the St Aidan’s area and is asking the local community to lend a hand.

Volunteers who want to take an active part in making their local environment cleaner, greener and safer, are being asked to take part in a litter-pick. This will be held on Saturday, 12 September, starting at 9am.  Anyone interested in taking part, should meet at Greystone Community Centre, Close Street. All equipment will be provided by the City Council. Anyone interested in taking part, should contact 01228 618556 or 01228 817200 for more information.

During the week, the City Council’s gully cleaning crew will be asking residents to move their vehicles on certain streets, at certain times, so that they can clean gullies at difficult locations. At the same time, a mechanical sweeper will sweep the gutters so the locations are left as clean as possible. Letters will be sent to local residents setting out when the work is planned to happen.

City Councillor Ray Bloxham, Portfolio holder for Environment and Infrastructure, said:

“Litter, fly tipping and graffiti are major issues for local residents and we want to work alongside communities to try and stamp them out as much as we can. The Big Tidy Up week will provide us with the opportunity to work with partners and residents to tackle the problems and make a big difference to the local environment.”  

In addition to the litter picking event, Carlisle City Council will also be doing the following in the St Aidan’s area during the Big Tidy Up week: additional road sweeping; removing fly tipping; litter picking; removing fly posters; removing graffiti; washing bus stops; cleaning gullies; cleaning road signs; shrub bed maintenance; verge maintenance; removing weeds; minor highway repairs; painting bollards and other general maintenance work.

The CDRP (Carlisle and Eden Crime & Disorder Partnership) will also be asking residents to sign indemnity forms to allow the City Council and the Probation Service to remove graffiti from properties, free of charge, during the Big Tidy Up week.

Enforcement Officers will be checking for fly tipping and dog fouling and advising occupiers of the regulations surrounding these issues.

An information display will in place at Greystone Community Centre, Close Street throughout the week and staff from Carlisle City Council and partners will be on hand to answer residents’ questions on local issues and the services available to communities.

The Big Tidy Up is a national campaign, for further information visit www.thebigtidyup.org