Section 89(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 places a duty on St Edmundsbury Borough Council as the principal litter authority to keep their relevant land clear of litter and refuse so far as is practicable. In most cases, relevant land is publicly accessible land which is open to the air and which is under the direct control of the authority.
The Code of Practice on litter and refuse provides a cleanliness standard based on land use and time periods which the council should comply to when discharging their duties. It sets out grades of cleanliness standards and divides land into zones according to usage and volume of traffic, town centre areas having the greatest usage receive more frequent cleansing than low-density housing estates and therefore are zoned differently.
If the cleanliness of an area falls, the code sets out a response time which is the target for the council to restore the land to a particular grade of cleanliness. What matters is maintaining the cleanliness of an area, rather than how often it is cleaned.
Grades
- Grade A no litter or refuse;
- Grade B predominantly free of litter and refuse apart from some small items;
- Grade C widespread distribution of litter and refuse with minor accumulations; and
- Grade D heavily littered with significant accumulations.
Grade A is the standard which a thorough conventional sweeping/litter-picking should achieve. Whilst Grade A is the aim, it is not reasonable to expect that standard to be maintained at all times. A very few items on a Grade A surface will not necessarily be sufficient to degrade that area to Grade B.
See a problem? - Tell us about it
If you are aware of any street cleaning problems, whether it be litter, fly tipped waste, dog fouling, litter bins full (or damaged), abandoned vehicles and so on, please take the time to let us know and we can respond outside of our normal cleaning schedule.
You can email your report to waste.management@stedsbc.gov.uk or phone 01284 757320.
We will attend to the problem as soon as we can.
Do you have a question which is not covered above?
If so please email: waste.management@stedsbc.gov.uk or phone 01284 757320.
