The Sedgemoor area is 564 km² which includes the towns of Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea and Cheddar, coastal resorts, tourist centres and rural communities. The resident population is estimated at 104,100 with 3 million visitors each year.
The clean surroundings section provides a district wide road sweeping service. This service aims to meet the requirements laid down in the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. District Councils are responsible under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for keeping roads clean 'so far as this is practicable'. Clean Surroundings meets these requirements principally through a system of regular visits by manual and mechanical sweepers. In addition to these scheduled visits if the visual appearance of any area deteriorates between cleans, clean surroundings will respond and clean it up.
There are a number of ways you can help us to keep Sedgemoor clean by:
- Being tidy with your litter and chewing gum
- Using the free Household Waste Recycling Centres
- Arranging waste collection contracts for you business
- Cleaning up after your dog
- Reporting your concerns to us
Beach cleaning
We are responsible for the cleaning of amenity beaches at Burnham-on-Sea and Berrow
Please contact us to report items washed up by the tide, or dead animals washed up on the beach.
Dead animals
We will collect dead animals (ie foxes, badgers, deer's, dogs and cats) found on public highways, verges or other public land. Dead animals on trunk roads (M5, A303, A36) however should be reported to the Highways Agency. If you should find a dead animal that needs to be removed or if you have lost a pet and are looking for information please contact us. Clean Surroundings will not collect from private land.
Dog fouling
The Dog Act 1996 (Fouling of Land) came into force on the 1st May 1997. This act means you are legally obliged to clear up after your dog if it fouls any land which is open to the air and to which the public have access.
Failure to clean up after your dog is an offence. Anyone seen allowing their dog to foul and not cleaning up after it will be approached by Sedgemoor District Council's Dog Warden, or other authorised officers, and issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice of £50. The owner will have the opportunity to pay the fixed penalty and thereby avoid conviction. If the fixed penalty is not paid, the owner may be prosecuted and if found guilty of the offence, fined a maximum of £1,000 in the magistrate's court. It is the duty of every dog owner to clear up after their dog. Remember that contact with dog excrement can lead to blindness, from an infection called Toxocara Canis.
We provide dog bins throughout the district of Sedgemoor. To report an area that is badly fouled or to report a damaged or full dog bin please contact us. To make a complaint about persistent dog fouling please contact the dog warden.
Flyposting
Flyposting is displaying any advertising material on buildings and street furniture without the consent of the owner. It includes any size of material from small stickers to large posters. These posters are unsightly, anti-social and illegal; creating a negative impression of the area.
Flyposting is a criminal offence under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992. The current maximum fine upon prosecution is £2,500 with each poster being treated as an individual offence.
There are many ways on which events can be legitimately advertised without spoiling the local environment e.g. advertising in newspapers and on local radio.
To report any unsightly flyposting on Sedgemoor District Council property, please contact us.
Fly tipping
Fly tipping is a serious environmental problem, which is illegal and punishable by a fine or imprisonment. The cost to Sedgemoor District Council, to remove fly tipped waste, is approximately £25 per incident.
On the 7th June 2005, the Government introduced stiffer penalties for fly tipping and made it an arrestable offence. The new measures were brought into force as part of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. This includes fly tipping fines of up to £50,000 in a Magistrates Court, or an unlimited fine or up to 5 years imprisonment if prosecuted in a Crown Court.
A fly tipping incident occurs every 35 seconds somewhere in England and Wales. The Act will provide greater powers to Local Authorities, the Environment Agency and the Courts to tackle the problem. New powers to clean neighbourhoods came into force in April 2006.
Fly tipping is unsightly, hazardous to children and attracts vermin. Sedgemoor District Council treats this problem very seriously and will prosecute anyone caught flytipping waste. In an effort to reduce the number of fly tipping incidents, we provide a bulky item collection for large items.To arrange for a bulky item collection please contact us.
We will, in most instances, clear dumped rubbish from public land. If however the rubbish has been dumped in the road and causes a safety hazard Somerset County Council should remove it. We do not clear dumped rubbish from private land that is the responsibility of the landowner/tenant.
The fly tipping of controlled waste (asbestos and chemicals etc) is a serious criminal offence which, if sent to Crown Court, could carry an unlimited fine or imprisonment. It is important to realise that some wastes require special treatment in respect of handling and disposal. Specialist contractors must remove this type of waste.
Fly tipping is often associated with dumping waste from vehicles. In this case the person controlling the use of the vehicle can also be prosecuted, which means that it is possible for a prosecution to occur when only the vehicle and not the driver is identifiable. The police also have the power to seize vehicles used for fly tipping,
If you discover fly tipped waste after the tippers have left, please follow these simple steps, and contact us:
- Do not touch the waste: fly tipped waste can be dangerous, it can contain syringes, broken glass, asbestos, toxic chemicals or other hazardous substances
- Visually inspect the waste: try to determine what the waste consists of and how much there is
- Take a note of its exact location and also whether it is in or near water
- Do not disturb the site there may be evidence that could help identify the culprits and lead to a prosecution
- Note how many people were involved, and the day, date and time it occurred
- Please also make a note of any vehicles involved - including the make, colour and registration.
Graffiti
Graffiti is an illegal, anti-social activity that creates a negative impression of an area and contributes to people's fear of crime. It can be difficult to remove depending on the type of surface it's on and the graffiti material used. Some surfaces absorb certain graffiti materials making it difficult and expensive to remove whilst others may be easy.
If you would like any unsightly graffiti removed from Council Property please contact us.
Graffiti on private property
The policy is that Sedgemoor District Council only removes graffiti from its own property.
Where graffiti is on private property (as it is in most cases) we do encourage the owner to make arrangements to remove it and we can advise of contractors that can do the work. We encourage owners to arrange for this to be done as a matter of some urgency, as graffiti tends to attract more graffiti. Alternatively, and only if staff resources permit at that particular time, we do offer to do the work ourselves on a rechargeable basis. (Man hours plus materials)
However, where graffiti is particularly offensive or racist, we do use discretion to ensure its removal as soon as reasonably possible and who pays for the work is settled afterwards. We clean off offensive or racist graffiti under our duty of care.
The same policy is applied in all areas of the district.
Graffiti on road signs and directional signs is Somerset County Council's responsibility.
Litter bins
We provide litter bins throughout the District of Sedgemoor to allow you to dispose of your litter. Waste bins are emptied according to usage i.e. in busy areas they may be emptied twice a day whereas in quieter areas they may only be emptied on a weekly basis.
Damaged or full litter bin
To report a damaged or full litter bin, please contact us. We will need the location of the bin and the date you last noticed it was damaged or full.
Needles and Syringes
There has been an increase in the number of used syringes and needles discarded in public places and clean surroundings provides a service to remove them. Please report any problems to us.
Street Furniture
We maintain the following street furniture items that are on Sedgemoor District Council land:
- public benches
- bollards
- litter bins
- dog excrement bins
