Street Sweeping In Semilong Northampton

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.

SEMILONG.ORG very much doubt that Northampton Borough Council would charge for a service and not provide it, especially when they have a statutory duty to sweep our streets. However, there are areas in Semilong Northampton which certainly need attention (as the photographs or any resident or visitor would testify.

Consequently, SEMILONG.ORG on behalf of all our Semilong Northampton residents, people working in our community and visitors, have asked Northampton Borough Council for details of when residents can expect their streets to be swept. So far they have refused to provide those details.

We firmly believe that as the residents and businesses in our Semilong Northampton community are paying for a service, that they should know when that service is expected to happen. After all, you don't buy a pint of milk in the shop and then have no idea when the cow is going to deliver it.

When we have an answer and can give you a street by street guide of when to expect your Semilong Northampton streets to be swept, it will be published here. It amazes us that Northampton Borough Council do not already publish a guide and they refuse to do so.

Northampton Borough Council Aim To Sweep Our Streets Less Often

Recently the Semilong Community Forum (our residents association) 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 Semilong Northampton 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.

SEMILONG.ORG would like Northampton Borough Council to:

• sweep all our streets regularly. After all don't all residents and businesses pay for the same level of service wherever they are in our community.
• educate people not to drop litter, handing out fines if necessary.
• use the cctv camera on Semilong Road, Northampton to catch litter louts. Semilong Residents Forum has identified that particular road, which is easily within the scope of the town cctv camera, as being the worst for litter. We realise they have other things to do as well and catching litter louts is sometimes a lower priority. But the CCTV camera has been sited there for approximately two years and they have not caught one litter lout yet. Why?? Thankfully there could not have been higher priority incidents happening 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for all of that time the camera has been sited there. Yet all the while louts were dropping litter right under its nose?

Peterborough City Council

SEMILONG.ORG praise the work of Peterborough City Council who take the litter problem seriously.

They educate, and fine or prosecute those that cause communities in Peterborough to suffer a litter problem. Peterborough City Council use their CCTV not only to monitor for crime but also for anti-social behaviour which littering is.

The Peterborough City Council even have an online gallery of offenders they wish to trace.

So when people, including those in authority, try to argue that CCTV is for catching those committing more serious criminal behaviour and they do not have time to deal with this type of anti-social behaviour...TOSH !!

[See the Peterborough Litter Lout Gallery Here]

Street Sweeping Rota

This information has been requested from Northampton Borough Council. We are waiting for them to respond to our request.

Why do we want that information?

We are paying to have our streets swept on our council tax. That is a good enough reason. Another, is that we want to know how long we have to put up with scenes like these...

Northampton Borough Council ask who will pay to empty the litter bins. Instead they should be thinking if they put in extra litter bins, it will benefit the whole community and neighbourhood in Semilong Northampton.