Council urged to take tougher action to stop rubbish piling up on the streets of Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes City Council is being urged to take tougher action against management companies, to avoid rubbish piling up on the city’s streets.
A motion calling for stronger action against the companies is being proposed by the Milton Keynes Liberal Democrat Group, and is set to be discussed at a full council meeting on Wednesday September 17.
The council says that a portion of management companies are failing to fulfil their responsibilities on waste, leading to rubbish piling up in car parks and outside flats across the city.
This week the Citizen highlighted the case on Fen Street in the Brooklands area of the city, where communal rubbish bins belonging to a block of 12 flats were repeatedly not being emptied.
The accumulation of rubbish posed a "clear health hazard" residents claimed, with the area becoming "a breeding ground for vermin" and resembling a "dump."
After several weeks of the rubbish not being collected, a number of Milton Keynes City Council vehicles plus some individuals in private cars arrived on the street on Tuesday September 16, taking the litter away.
The motion is being put forward by Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Crooks, who represents the Broughton ward, and it calls for the cabinet and chief executive to continue working proactively to require management companies to fulfil their responsibilities, and to not hesitate to use the environmental and enforcement powers that the council has in order to end the building up of waste in this way.
Crooks said: "The city council’s waste teams work incredibly hard, but they need cooperation from management companies.
"It’s time for those companies to step up, take responsibility, and clean up their own mess.”
If the motion is passed, the city council will continue working with companies to ensure their responsibilities are fulfilled, and will consider using enforcement action if necessary to reduce the building up of waste.