Businesses reminded to keep our city tidy by Shaun Moore | Gloucester News Centre - http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk/
Gloucester City Council is reminding all businesses across the city centre about keeping their waste tidy and only putting it out at designated times.
In 2015, following a consultation with businesses, a new city centre trade waste policy was introduced to agree that waste should only be put out between 6am – 10am on weekdays and that any waste not collected that day must be kept on the premises until the next collection.
Recently there has been an increase in waste being put out overnight and left all weekend, which is not allowed. As well as being unsightly, the waste can attract vermin and there have been instances of bags being ripped open and spilling out over the street, or in windy condition, blowing across the city centre.
In order to address these issues, heightened enforcement will be taking place and CCTV will be used to identify persistent offenders.
Letters have been sent out to all businesses in the city centre. Any business that is caught breaking the agreement will be given a formal notice. Fines will be issued if these are ignored, and the council will also prosecute if continual offences are made.
Gloucester City Council, along with partners, is committed to improving the street scene within the city centre to make it an attractive location which welcomes visitors, encourages inward investment and promotes growth.
In the past year, two fixed penalty notices have been served to two different mobile phone shops, due to not following trade waste notices. Both penalties were paid in time and the two stores have since kept in line with the waste agreement.
Lloyd Griffiths, head of neighbourhood services at Gloucester City Council, said: “Before this policy was introduced last year, we consulted with business owners to make sure they understood what we were doing.
“Unfortunately, it is a few repeat offenders who have continually disregarded the agreed method for disposing of waste, which is why we are now reminding every business about what they should be doing.”
Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk
