Cleaner, safer areas wanted

11:16am Monday 22nd October 2001

A DOUBLE clean-up is being launched by Dartford Council.

Action is being taken after a wide-ranging survey by the council showed members of the public want to live in a cleaner and safer environment.

The Street Scene survey's main outcome is a £455,000 expansion of CCTV in the borough from 23 to 43 cameras.

Most of the cost will be met by the Home Office which has pledged £376,000, with the council paying the remainder.

The cameras, which include a mobile unit, will be used for surveillance and prosecution of various offences like fly-tipping.

Other environmental initiatives include:

Employing an environmental officer for £30,000

Signing up to Operation Cubit, a £10,000 scheme which takes abandoned vehicles off the road and crushes them

Introducing fixed penalties for littering

Helping schools bring Tidy Britain courses into the curriculum.

To tackle night time crime, the police will use the council's extended CCTV systems to clamp down on illegal activity with the help of the Night Traders Forum.

The report also wants to encourage people in community groups to come forward as witnesses so criminals can be prosecuted through the courts.

A Dartford Borough Council spokesman said: “The council will work in partnership with the community to create and maintain a public environment which is safe, clean and welcoming.”

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