NEWS RELEASES
Clean streets - a comment
12th July 2007
HORSHAM District Council is today responding to figures that suggest that the District’s streets are not as clean as they could be.
The information comes from the Audit Commission’s Best Value Performance Indicators for 2005/06 and originates from data supplied by the Council itself 15 months ago.
The data says that at that time 33% of streets in the Horsham District were dirty with deposits of litter and debris.
Commenting on the information, Ian Jopling, Head of Environment, Waste and Cleansing at Horsham District Council, said:
“I would like to reassure everyone that this figure is only one measure of cleanliness amongst many, it is now well over a year out of date and it is certainly not a true reflection of how clean the District’s 500 miles of mainly rural streets are now.
“We are not disputing the figure but would like to give it some context.
“This information was gathered by us in house and has been used to help us make changes to how we operate. The current figure for the present time stands at 21%.
“The inspection covered a range of issues including overall littering, silt and debris on the roadside, fly tipping, graffiti, fly posting and abandoned vehicles.
“It is also reassuring to know that more recent independent data supplied by environmental group ENCAMS (Tidy Britain Group) suggests that the Horsham District ranked very well in all areas of environmental quality and cleanliness.
“Another separate source of recent Government information – the General User Satisfaction Survey 2006 – asked local residents what they thought about the cleanliness of the District. A total of 74% of Horsham District residents were satisfied with levels of cleanliness.
“Areas such as satisfaction with the District’s parks and open spaces also scored very highly.
“We are not standing still and continue to work hard to keep the District clean and tidy.
“As always, we do continue to ask for the public’s help in disposing of litter responsibly and keeping the area tidy.”
Ends
CONTACT: Richard Morris, Communications Manager
Email: richard.morris@horsham.gov.uk