Streetscene and Public Space

On this page:

1. Why is streetscene and public space important?
2. Service areas and issues
3. Streetscene improvement
4. Street cleansing and enforcement issues
5. Green and open space
6. Environment Champions
7. Recent News

1. Why is streetscene and public space important?

The streetscene and public space impacts on the whole community, whilst the quality of the local environment consistently rates as the most important issue for local people.

The LGA's Reputation campaign shows that two of the most important drivers of resident satisfaction with councils are to improve the quality of the public realm, and to improve the visibility of council staff and services.

There are many factors that determine whether our streets and public spaces are pleasant, vibrant places. This goes beyond clean streets to encompass safe neighbourhoods and the importance of creating a sense of place.

There are demonstrable links between streetscene issues and other environmental issues. High quality local environments can support and achieve wider corporate objectives on health, employment, transport, education etc.If parks are cleaner, safer and greener, more children will use them, increase their social networks and become fitter.A cleaner, well-used area creates a perception that it is cared-for and safe and discourages anti-social behaviour and serious crime.Cleaner, greener environments also encourage investment and economic development, support regeneration and help areas to thrive, providing more local jobs and facilities.

2. Service areas and issues

• Parks and Green Spaces
• Cleansing and Waste
• Environmental Crime and Anti-social Behaviour

Each has some common problems and solutions and councils are developing innovative projects and campaigns that are raising the profile of the whole local environment and tackling the attitudes and behaviour that undermine efforts to keep our streets and public spaces.

The LGA's environmental advisory sub-group on streetscene and public space has identified key changes for councils in this area. These include:

• Joining up services to address multiple responsibility / ownership for different parts of the public realm
• Encouraging a sense of ownership and helping residents and businesses to get involved in improving their local environment
• Tackling enviro-crime through more effective enforcement
• Tackling the negative impact of traffic by joining up transport policy and streetscene design
• Securing adequate revenue to maintain new streetscene and public realm projects
• Creating a clear identity for streetscene services

Most councils have introduced a range of programs and strategies to make a visible difference to the quality of the local environment. These include:

• Gating schemes for neglected alley ways where littler, fly tipping or anti social behaviour have become a problem for local residents
• Neighbourhood wardens to provide a reassuring presence and enforcement capacity
• Community spring clean, where the council and local residents work together, usually over a one week period, to blitz all the litter problems and eyesores in a local neighbourhood. This could include repainting and repairing streets, pavements and street furniture; clearing away graffiti, litter and fly posting; planting new trees or flower beds; clearing away residents' bulky waste and actively enforcing against environmental crime
• Britain in Bloom - many councils get involved in this annual competition to engage the local community in planting schemes to make streets and public spaces more attractive and distinctive
• Attractive street furniture - clearing away redundant signage and replacing mismatching or damaged seating and litter bins helps to create better designed neighbourhoods and a greater sense of place

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4. Street cleansing and enforcement issues

Local authorities have a range of new powers under the the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 to enforce against offences such as litter, graffiti, fly-posting, fly-tipping, abandoned and nuisance vehicles.

5. Green and open space

This includes parks, green spaces, open spaces and wter features (e.g. canals, urban rivers). Councils are responsible for many of our green and open spaces and are working with partners including CABE to actively improve the design and maintenance of these important assets.

6. Environment Champions

The LGA wants all authorities to become 'environment champions' and lead a local 'greening communities' campaign.The LGA has produced a useful campaign pack and series of vision documents for each of the 7 Environmental issues, containing a number of ideas for action.A Greening Communities campaign will include a number of these actions.Individual members or officers can champion the environment within their authority and the authority itself can champion the environment and lead a 'greening communities' campaign locally.An individual or a team with a vision can be very effective in driving forward service improvements.

7. Recent News Fly-tipping - annual fly-tipping data released

2007/8 data from local authorities was published on 16 October, showing a 7.5% decline in incident numbers and a 26% increase in enforcement action taken by local authorities.

The increase in enforcement action is an indication that more councils are using (relatively) new enforcement powers. Councils are continuing to prioritise action against fly-tipping and waste crime and in many areas are working in partnership with police, fire, DVLA, businesses and landowners to prevent offending.

The estimated cost of clearing illegally dumped waste reported by local authorities in 2007/08 was £73.8 million, an almost identical figure to 2006/07.

It is estimated that local authorities spent £16.8 million on enforcement action against fly-tipping in 2007/08.

Local authorities carried out 1,871 prosecutions in 2007/08, an increase from 1,371 in 2006-07. Of these, 95% achieved a successful outcome.

Major break through for non-stick chewing gum
This break-through news was released by Bristol University on 14th September detailing an end to the problem of discarded chewing gum littering and damaging streets and pavements, with the development of a non-sticky gum by scientists. Please click here for the full details of the article.

Paved with gold: the real value of street design
As part of their campaign to Design better streets, CABE has published Paved with gold, new research findings endorsed by the LGA showing that well-designed, managed and maintained streets can add around 5 percent to the level of property prices and shop rents. Taking ten London high streets as case studies, the research demonstrates that good street design can create direct economic benefits. It also shows the value the public places on better streets.

Paved with gold provides evidence for local authorities seeking to anticipate and capture the returns from investing in better streets. Both the Paved with gold briefing and the full report are available on the CABE website.

For more research, case studies and inspiration visit www.cabe.org.uk/streets

Tackling Abandoned Shopping Trolleys
Defra, LGA and partners have produced helpful guidance for local authorities on dealing with abandoned shopping and luggage trolleys. This promotes the setting up of agreements between authorities, supermarkets and other local partners to prevent trolley loss and manage recovery and disposal. The guidance is available on the Defra website.

Support for local environment skills development and training
A new web based resource: http://www.localenvironmentskills.org/ will help local authorities and other organisations in the local environmental management sector to achieve improvements in service delivery. The website brings together all of the relevant training and skills development opportunities, enabling individuals, teams and organisations to improve performance. As well as promoting learning opportunities, the site shows how skills development can help to increase the effectiveness of individuals and the public facing services they help deliver. The site provides opportunities for everyone from frontline operatives to service directors and is supported by Defra, IDeA, LGA, ENCAMS, CIWM and training providers.