Over the past nine months or so, Norwood Forum has been raising the poor cleanliness of the West Norwood town centre with Veolia (the Council’s contractor), Council officers, Councillors, and Station to Station. The stretch of pavement opposite West Norwood station had become a 24/7 dumping ground for local commercial and domestic waste, and this in turn attracted regular domestic and builder’s waste from elsewhere. Waste was apparently put out on the pavement in unsuitable containers and next to litter bins on Norwood Road, and this resulted in staining of the new pavements. Some of the worst offences were highlighted by concerned residents on social media such as West Norwood Local.
All commercial premises are required to hold a waste collection contract. The Council checked and found that some did not, and fixed penalty notices were issued where necessary. Each business is free to appoint whatever contractor it wishes. Station to Station has established a waste collection contract with First Mile.
It has been established that all commercial premises on Knights Hill and along Norwood Road in the town centre have the necessary license in place. The Council has powers to direct when and how businesses should present their waste for collection. In the West Norwood time banded collection zone (which includes these sections of Knights Hill and Norwood Road) businesses are required to put out their rubbish and recycling only as follows:
Rubbish:
- Between 7am and 8am, Monday to Sunday
- Between 5.30pm and 6.30pm, Monday to Saturday
- No collection on Sunday evenings
Recycling:
- Between 7am and 8am, Monday to Saturday
- No evening collections Monday to Saturday
- No collection on Sundays
Rubbish and recycling collection hours for the whole borough can be found here on the council’s website.
Norwood Forum has been advised by the Council that new waste collection advisory signs are being designed for Knights Hill and Norwood Road. As the existing signs set out the wrong collection times, we have asked for these to be removed urgently (the Council has the process under way but a completion date is not known at the time of writing). All businesses must put out their waste only during the times set out above, irrespective of who their contractor is. Contractors have up to an hour after the window closes to collect the waste. If they fail to do so the business could be subjected to a Fixed Penalty. If a waste contractor is not able to meet the requirements of the timed collection zones the business must seek an alternative supplier who can meet the requirements.
Veolia operates a washer scrubber dryer (WSD) machine fortnightly at these locations. In addition, a jet washing machine now cleans around litter bins on a weekly basis. This work has much improved the environment, and is expected to improve the situation further over the coming weeks.
Station to Station also has a special cleaning crew, and they have been asked to address the four worst areas of staining – two on Knights Hill and two on Norwood Road - one close to Greggs and the spilled paint close to Chicken Bites. Station to Station will also be reminding businesses of the legal requirements and operating hours, publicising their contract with First Mile, and doing educative work in partnership with the Council, fast food shops and Elmgreen School.
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