Clean Neighbourhoods
Planning and Environmental Policy Group's Clean Neighbourhoods Team is currently considering how best to drive forward a cleaner neighbourhoods agenda suitable for Northern Ireland following the introduction of the recent Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 in England and Wales. The Act is an important part of the Government’s “cleaner, safer, greener” programme which recognises the link between low level environmental quality, anti-social behaviour, crime and deprivation of neighbourhoods. The measures in the Act are wide ranging and are designed to give local authorities more power to tackle environmental crime, make everyone think about the environment around them and ultimately to improve the quality of life in local neighbourhoods. The range of local environmental quality issues which are currently being considered in the Northern Ireland context include:
- Community Safety – for example the profile of local environmental quality issues in the ongoing community safety agenda and the effectiveness of the processes surrounding alleygating schemes
- Litter (including discarded chewing gum and cigarette butts)
- Graffiti
- Fly-posting
- Dogs
- Noise nuisance
- Abandoned vehicles, nuisance parking
- Statutory Nuisance
- Abandoned shopping trolleys
- Fixed penalty notices
Work is ongoing to prepare instructions for the legislative draughtsman to draft the necessary Northern Ireland legislation.
|
