Cleaning up the City

One of the Council's initiatives to clean up the City has been recognised by the Welsh Assembly Government with a £20,000 grant.

Swansea Council's Neighbourhood Environment Action Team was established only last October and has won plaudits from local residents everywhere it's gone to concentrate on deep cleaning difficult areas around the city and county.

The NEAT team is a joint effort between the authority's social services and environment departments and aims to give work experience and training opportunities to adults with learning disabilities under the supervision of other council staff.

Since October it's worked all over the city and county cleaning up areas that wouldn't otherwise have been reached. They include the riverside walk near Sainsbury in the city centre, Gorseinon, St Thomas and Port Tennant.

The team is tackling areas around the city that would otherwise become targets for fly-tipping or littering. That's good news for the communities which benefit from the clean-up and it's an encouragement to them to continue the good work.

Business as usual

Whilst all the scheming continues behind closed doors in County Hall, the Cabinet is ensuring that it is business as usual for the Council.

Part of this is the way that the Administration is gearing up its campaign to clean up the City. Talks are underway with the Trade Unions to introduce more effective working practices whilst other initiatives are being introduced to discourage and punish litter.

Whatever happens tomorrow and subsequently, we are determined to make some very real improvements to the cleanliness of Swansea.

Update: It is good to see Labour acknowledge how bad things were when we took over, even if they do refer to fictitious cuts in cleansing.

Tackling litter

Some of those who commented on the Evening Post website may not have been too happy but this intiative to penalise litter louts is an important cornerstone of the Administration's drive to clean up Swansea.

The Council is seeking to reform the way that they keep the City clean from April with the introduction of dedicated clean teams. They are also seeking to overcome some of the restrictive practices that have ensured that Council taxpayers have not been getting value for money in the past on cleansing. Negotiations are on-going with unions that will hopefully ensure that we get a more efficient service in return for investing a bit more in our workforce.

No doubt the extra litter bins will follow, but we must educate people into keeping the City clean as well, and that takes a stick as well as carrots.