This is such a contentious issue. One in which Northampton Borough Council fails its Semilong Northampton residents and stakeholders miserably. They have a duty to stop fly-tipping through education, offering alternatives and enforcement.

SEMILONG.ORG agree and welcome that the alternatives to fly-tipping such as recycling are well pushed. But what about the other anti-flytipping measures?

The `BULKY ITEM COLLECTION SERVICE` failed our test when after having to make a payment of £25.00 we were asked to leave the item out in the car park. After we pushed for a `knock and assist service` they then failed to collect the item on three occasions. After several phone calls, several weeks, failed promises of returning phone calls, we finally managed to have the item collected. It should be noted that our twinned area of St Peters in Leicester which is similar in all respects, have a FREE collection service.

We mentioned above a car park. This is the same car park that a Northampton Borough Council officer had the humiliation of having to own up to the fact that Northampton Borough Council encourage residents to dump waste into. This is not only disgraceful, it is also ILLEGAL TO PERMIT WASTE TO BE DISPOSED OF INTO AN AREA NOT COVERED BY A WASTE MANAGEMENT LICENSE. We will return to this on the fly-tipping section because to have a local authority break a law they are supposed to enforce is totally shameful.

SEMILONG.ORG have asked several residents from across our Semilong Northampton community, if they are aware of when their streets are swept. Not one answered that they did. A few answered that their streets are never swept.

Though SEMILONG.ORG doubt Northampton Borough Council would charge residents for a service and then not provide it, certainly some of the streets in our neighbourhood do need attention [see photographs and video in our full street sweeping section]

Northampton Borough Council Aim To Sweep Our Streets Less Often

Recently the Semilong Community Forum were given the option by Northampton Borough Council to have some streets swept less often whilst others swept more often. [see the minutes of the meeting here]

This sounds ideal when you look at some roads being worse for litter than others. However, for some residents to pay to have their street swept and yet have to wait longer for that to happen is NOT ideal and not sensible.

If a road at the bottom of the list had a litter lout drop litter there, residents might have to wait two weeks or longer to have it swept.

SEMILONG.ORG have to wonder if this is a ploy to save money from their street cleaning budget at the cost of our community.

In an area of well over 2000 residents plus visitors, how many litter bins do you think there are in the Semilong Northampton area..20..30..more? Answer is..just 4.

Considering the amount of litter that gets thrown on the ground of our Semilong Northampton neighbourhood, we wonder why this is the case.

Is it the cost of the litter bins to buy and install or unbelievably..the cost of emptying the bins when they become full?? More on this in another later article.

[see the litter section for more on the this litterbin topic]

Community repairs which affect many residents should be given a higher priority than other repairs, That is common sense.

Northampton Borough Council have the answer..if it's a community repair (broken fence etc etc) that affects many residents, ask Northamptonshire Police to call in to support the request for repair. Only then will they prioritise it...

Greenscaping is the trees, shrubs and hedges in our open spaces.

It looks great but it does need proper regular maintenance. Otherwise it creates areas where crime is encouraged as people cannot see their vehicles outside their homes or where criminals can hide from view..