Ealing's Rubbish! - Standards Slipping?

Council to get tough on contractors after evidence of decline

12 wards in Ealing have slipped below the agreed target of 90% of streets receiving a grade A grade for cleanliness.

Writing on his blog, the Hanger Hill Conservative Councillor Benjamin Dennehy says :

''Since Labour has taken back power on the Council we have begun the descent into filth and decay.''

12 wards were rated below 90% achievement last month.

They are:

Cleveland (84.81%)
Ealing Broadway (87.57%)
Ealing Common (88.36%)
Elthorne (87.64%)
Greenford Broadway (85.03%)
Greenford Green (86.85%)
Hobbayne (84.02%)
Lady Margaret (82.96%)
North Greenford (82.31%)
Northfield (85.05%)
Northolt Mandeville (89.08%)
Perivale (88.13%)

Cllr Bassam, Mahfouz, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, is blaming the weeds:

"The reason for the apparent recent dip is not from a lack of litter clearing but in relation to weed control. There were a number of months last year when street cleaning standards fell short of the 90% target and so to suggest standards have changed under the new administration is simply untrue.

''Also, when you look at June's street cleaning monitoring results, all wards show they achieved an overall score of more than 91% when you add the grade A (excellent) and grade B (good) scores together. As making Ealing cleaner is one of our top priorities and so we rightly set a 90% target for grade A cleaning for all wards.

''Our contractors know that we require the highest standards and I have told them this in no uncertain terms. A meeting has been set up with May Gurney's Managing Director and Operations Director where I will be making my displeasure known and my expectations very clear.''

15 July 2010