WAVERLEY Council has answered back over a survey which suggested the borough has some of the dirtiest streets in the South East. And while stressing there is no shame in their record, council representatives have highlighted the role that residents can play in helping them do better. John Sandy, Waverley's portfolio holder, spoke of how surprised he and fellow councillors had been when Waverley was ranked 62nd out of 67 councils in figures publicised by GMB, the general workers' union. The figures, for the year up to March 31, 2007, showed 22 per cent of Waverley's streets did not come up to scratch because of litter or general detritus. John Sandy felt the figures did not reflect the reality. "The whole business of street cleaning is very high on our priority list. It is something we want to do as well as possible because it is very important that the environment is clean and pleasant for residents to live in and walk through. "One of our main objectives in our corporate plan is just that – making sure that their quality of life is good." He added, however, that the onus was not on Waverley and its cleaning contractor Veolia alone. Residents had their own part to play in not dropping litter and assisting to keep the streets clean in other ways. Steve Thwaites, Waverley's environment director, agreed the figures, which were based on the 'best value performance indicators' supplied to the Audit Commission by local authorities themselves, did not refect the actual feeling on the streets. "We think the quality has been pretty good, but on this measure we haven't done well. "We have a bit of a dilemma because in terms of day-to-day complaints from members of the public, we don't get a huge number. "These figures are a surprise to us and it is down to how this is measured. "A lot of the Surrey authorities are down at the bottom of the pile and most have employed an independent inspector to carry out the survey." Some other authorities, including top-ranked Sevenoaks in Kent with its 100 per cent clean streets, had carried out their own assessment, said Mr Thwaites. Environmental services officer Paul Redmond added that whereas Waverley had scored well as far as litter was concerned, it was the entirely random surveying of "detritus" – including all manner of deposits including natural materials under hedges and in gullies – that counted most against them. Whether the inspector registered a pass or failure on any 50 metre stretch chosen at random from Waverley's 500 miles of roads would be affected by the luck of the cleaning schedule, the weather, or even whether a parked car had hampered the cleaning schedule. "The town centres are generally fine, it is the rural roads, such as the Frensham Road towards Frensham, that are difficult. "You can't compare us to a London borough. Waverley is 29 per cent covered in trees." Mr Redmond said that when people phone up and complain about street cleanliness Waverley not only tackles the problem, it recruits them as voluntary wardens who can send Waverley a postcard to report any problems. The council also has a list of "litter watchdogs" – members of the public that it informs when their street is next due to be cleaned and who report to the council on the contractor's performance. "We really need more volunteers for that," said Mr Redmond. In conjunction with Guildford Borough Council, Waverley is also currently running a 'Keep Guildford and Waverley Clean' campaign, which will deal with a wide variety of issues that affect the cleanliness and security in the area. The campaign will run throughout the spring and summer months and will include community lead clean-ups. There is also a campaign under which residents can nominate any particular litter black spot or area that needs to be targeted by a council team. A nomination form can be found on Waverley council's website. Meanwhile, contractors Veolia have appointed a project manager to look into the survey figures and review the cleaning schedules. Martin Curtois, of Veolia, said the survey had been the catalyst to see if improvements could be made, though. He added that generally feedback received was good for the team of 18, who perform the manual and mechanical cleaning from 5.30am to 3pm each day.
