English Version - Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

ConnectYour community magazine for Blaenau GwentOver 200 fined incrackdown on litter loutsStreet cleanliness and dog fouling are major concerns forlocal people – therefore big priorities for your Council.We’ve stepped up the fight against litter louts and those whodon’t pick up after their pets.Over 200 fixed penalty noticeshave already been issued topeople in Blaenau Gwent forlittering or not picking up aftertheir dogs following theintroduction of new enforcementwardens recently.We’ve started a scheme to workwith private company XFOR toissue on-the-spot fines in acrackdown against those caughtflouting the law.The scheme wasespecially welcomed bycouncillors as it came as no extracost to the Council.Both XFOR and the Councilreceive an income from the fixedpenalty notices issued, and thelocal authority will be using thisproactively to employ a furthertwo enforcement wardens tospecifically target dog fouling.The wardens’ uniforms carry boththe XOFR and Blaenau Gwentlogos.They are also equipped withbody cameras so that theirinteraction with members of thepublic can be recorded and viewedat a later date for both health andsafety and evidence purposes.Business Plan in focus:Promote a cleanand pleasantenvironmentWe know you want us topromote clean streets and tackledog-fouling, and this initiative willhelp us do that. In our businessplan we reported that less than0.5% of residents complainedthis year about the cleanliness oftheir area, and we responded to98.7% of fly-tipping reportswithin five working days.We andour partners also cleared onetonne of street debris duringthe partnership eventNeighbourhood Together thissummer.Discover moreabout the Council’sbusiness plan onpage 4.The enforcement wardens -employed by local authoritysupport provider XFOR - workon behalf of the Council to issuethe £75 fixed penalty notices toanyone witnessed littering thestreets or not cleaning up aftertheir dog has fouled.They first hitthe street at the beginning ofOctober.We’ll keep you posted onhow this scheme is going.Of the fixed penalty notices issuedso far, the majority have been forsmoking related litter and dogfouling.The XFOR scheme was approvedfor a pilot period of six months –but already seems to be having aneffect in the county borough withan improvement noted in towncentre cleanliness surveys carriedout by the Council.for Council news & information visit www.blaenau-gwent. gov.uk 13