Street Clutter

The Centre for London has recently published a report on street clutter, the problems it causes and how to reduce it. The clutter includes abandoned hire bikes and e-scooters, left-behind traffic signs, advertising A-boards, rocking manhole covers, fly-tipping and overflowing bins, piles of commercial refuse, redundant phone boxes, poor utility reinstatements and relentless roadworks. They can all make walking, pushing a pram or using a wheelchair an unpleasant experience.

The report makes a number of recommendations to the Government, the GLA and Councils to make things better, including a comprehensive ban on A-boards; requiring dockless e-bikes and scooters to be placed in dedicated bays (something that the Council promises to do in Wandsworth); stricter co-ordination and control of commercial waste companies’ collection times; and giving local authorities the power to remove redundant street furniture, such as redundant phone kiosks, with very limited grounds for appeal. We shall draw the report to Wandsworth Council’s attention, and hope to see at least some of the recommendations implemented.