Hannah Brooking, resident of Wimbledon Park, has set up a petition calling for a clean up of Merton’s streets. She claims the residential streets of Merton have become ‘riddled’ with both litter and dog water.
The petition has attained over 1000 signatures since being posted in November with a whole host of further complaints being voiced by Merton residents. Local residents such as Trina Neale, states that ‘Merton’s streets have become a disgrace’ and Rachel Fletcher has said ‘the streets are filthy, its depressing and encourages pests’.
So what is to be done?
In her petition, Hannah Brooking demands a commitment to a fixed frequency of street cleaning from Merton council rather than having to rely on residents reporting isolated cases of littering for action to be taken.
The Merton Council cabinet member responsible for street cleanliness, Councillor Ross Garrod, has responded by saying:
‘We spend over £5 million, every year cleaning up after the small minority of people who drop their litter and dump their rubbish on our streets. Our street cleaning is based on need rather than done to a timetable, which is a more effective way of keeping the borough’s roads clean.’
Clearly, though this is not the case and the council must do more to overcome these pressing problems. Moreover, despite the council’s complaints about the potential cost of a fixed frequency system for street cleaning, comparisons have been drawn to Merton’s neighbouring borough Wandsworth who have this system but pay far lower council tax. Hence, arguments are beginning to arise on whether Merton council is using this council tax to truly meet the needs of the borough community.
Overall, what has become most clear from Brooking’s #MuckyMerton petition is that the state of Merton’s streets has become increasingly dire to the point it is having an impact on the very livelihood of residents. Brooking and her supporters can now only hope definitive action is decided on at the next all council meeting on February 7th.
