Doncaster Council declare war on town's grot spots

A new campaign – launched by the local authority this week– aims to tackle some of the town’s grot spots and work with residents to clean up the streets.

The ‘This Is My...’ Campaign encourages residents to take pride in where they live and take responsibility for keeping the area clean.

The move comes after Doncaster Council revealed it receives in excess of 20,000 complaints annually on the issue and spent £500,000 last year alone on dealing with fly tipped waste.

As part of the plans residents and groups will be encouraged to become ‘community champions’ in a bid to highlight the problem areas and work with the council.

The campaign will also see tougher penalties for those committing environmental crimes and the street cleansing team moving to a seven day a week service.

Mayor Ros Jones said: “We are very proud of Doncaster and stopping people from spoiling it is a key priority for me.

“We all know that when a place looks clean and tidy, people are more likely to want to spend time there.

“As we see more investment coming into Doncaster, as well as more visitors to our great local attractions, it will be crucial that we keep the borough looking nice wherever we can.”

Hyde Park resident Tony Batty said the streets in his neighbourhood were beginning to resemble a slum as the fly tipping and littering problems had become so bad.

Mr Batty, of Somerset Road, Hyde Park, said: “It’s definitely getting me down, this used to be a nice street and now it’s getting to the stage where I can’t face coming home on a night because it’s so bad.

“There’s dirty nappies, needles, food, it’s a health hazard.

“There’s rats and dead rats in the alleyway, it’s dangerous.

“The area is starting to look like a slum.”

The campaign comes after it was revealed 951 complaints were received about dog fouling in 2014 alone.

Meanwhile, thousands of residents continued to complain about the state of Doncaster’s streets despite statistics showing fly-tipping incidents in Doncaster have reduced from 9,000 in 2006 to 3,500 in 2015.

Residents will be given more information on environmental crime and the penalties associated with it as part of the campaign in a bid to reduce incidents.

Doncaster Council increased the fixed penalty fine for fly tipping just last month in the run up to the campaign to between £150 and £400.

Over the last year 60 new machines, including modern street sweepers, have been purchased in a bid to clamp down on the issue.

n To find out more about the campaign or find out how you can get involved contact [email protected] or visit www.doncaster.gov.uk or tweet @mydoncaster