Open Space Cleansing
Online services
Our Responsibility
No one wants to live, work or visit a borough where rubbish is left on the pavement, fly posting covers street furniture and where graffiti is visible. Here in Poole we provide a range of services committed to maintaining our streets and making the borough a more attractive place to live.
We have a responsibility for keeping Poole’s streets clean, employing over 50 members of staff and utilising innovative high tech equipment to maintain the borough at an acceptable standard.
We regularly cleanse, according to need, approximately 300 miles of public roads and footpaths and 339 hectares of open spaces including Poole's beaches of litter, dog fouling and detritus. Streets are swept between 06:30 & 22:00 throughout the Summer and 06:30 & 17:30 throughout Winter seven days a week.
We closely monitor the standard of street cleansing in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act and Government Best Value Performance Indicator 199 and any land that does not reach an acceptable standard is rectified.
We provide over 1000 litter/dog bins monitoring their emptying to ensure that they do not overflow.
We provide a dedicated weed treatment team who treat weeds on highway land once a year depending on weed regrowth with an approved weed killer and manual hoeing techniques.
Recent mild Winters are providing excellent conditions for extended weed growth within the Borough, and extended periods of wet weather can reduce the number of suitable days available for successful weed treatment application. Every effort is made to ensure all areas are treated within our programmed activities and residents can support this work by removing weeds from boundary walls wherever possible.
We remove and restore Council owned land affected by fly tipping, fly posting, graffiti and chewing gum.
Although the Council does not have a duty to cleanse privately owned land, we do have have powers to request and furthermore insist that a landowner cleans an area which is heavily littered or could give rise to an infestation of rodents. In certain circumstances the Council's enforcement powers do include the ability to enter and cleanse private land and recharge the costs of cleansing and administration.
What you can do
If you have a hedge outside your property, make sure it does not obstruct or overhang any footpaths:
overgrown hedges outside houses are a hazard to people walking by and an obstruction to our staff trying to clean pavements. Note: High hedges can also be a nuisance.
If you have a gravel driveway, make sure it does not encroach onto the public highway:
loose gravel is a hazard to people using the footpath and an additional pressure on the cleansing service.
Clean up your dog’s mess:
dog owners who fail to clean up after their pets can receive a fixed penalty notice.
Whether you are eating on the go, or cleaning out your pockets on the way to work, find the nearest litter bin and use it! Litter is dangerous to pets and wildlife, encourages pests such as rats and spoils the appearance of the borough. If you are caught littering you could receive a fixed penalty notice.
Please report it to us if you notice an area affected by graffiti, fly posting or fly tipping. If you see a litter bin that has been damaged or hasn’t been emptied please contact us using the details below.
Directgov