As part of Croydon’s zero-tolerance approach to antisocial behaviour, the Council has welcomed two new compliance officers to make the borough’s streets cleaner, safer and healthier.
The officers will use a range of enforcement approaches ranging from warnings to Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) and Community Protection Notices (CPN), and where applicable escalate cases for prosecution. The Council will have a fair enforcement approach, dealing with issues on a case-by-case basis. Advice and education will be offered for smaller offences, but action will escalate to fines and prosecutions when offences are deliberate and serious.
The new recruits will be working across the borough educating and enforcing against environmental crimes such as fly-tipping and abandoned or nuisance vehicles.
This investment is part of the Council’s renewed approach to tackling antisocial behaviour, making sure persistent fly-tippers are caught and held to account, as part of Executive Mayor Perry’s priority to restore pride in Croydon.
The new officers will be street-based and will focus on targeted, intelligence-led enforcement. Other tasks will include making sure licence applications on the public highway are being complied with, businesses have the correct waste removal licence and waste on private land is removed.
Fly-tipping is a major concern for residents. Such crimes ruin Croydon’s streets and can lead to other types of antisocial behaviour. The cost to the taxpayer in dealing with these behaviours is unacceptable – last year the Council spent over £1m clearing fly-tips.
By recruiting more officers the Council will have the capacity to undertake more robust enforcement work – which has seen recent successful prosecutions including a fly-tipper from Thornton Heath who was ordered to pay £7,951, and a business in Kilmartin Avenue, Norbury where three abandoned vehicles were removed.
Alongside expanding the team, the Council wants to hear from residents on the renewed environment and enforcement policy. The Streets and Environment Enforcement Policy sets out a clear, fair, and proportionate approach to enforcement, ensuring that those who fail to comply face appropriate consequences. Residents can have their say in the survey until midnight, Sunday 31 August.
“We will no longer be seen as a soft touch as we have had enough of people behaving antisocially and ruining our streets. These new officers will allow us to take more action and make the people that commit the crimes, pay for them.
“We are improving our streets, from our district centre blitz cleans to our improved street cleaning service. We ask that all residents do their bit by reporting environmental crimes through Love Clean Streets”
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon
Fly-tipping and other waste and highway issues can be reported on Love Clean Streets.
