WATCH: Peterborough city centre operation ‘not a one-off spring clean’ leader assures public
Peterborough City Council staff and councillors were out and about on Wednesday as part of an operation to get tough on issues in the city centre.
Operation Horizon aims to sort out the issues that residents said blighted their experience of going into town.
Some of the action has included jet-washed streets, street drinkers being handed fines and offered support, litter picking in hot spot areas, and businesses being visited to check they were meeting licensing requirements and Food Safety Standards.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service joined the team of volunteers, referred to as a ‘hit squad’, at Bishop’s Road Car Park where a row of graffiti was being cleaned off the wall next to The Lido.
Peterborough City Council leader, Cllr Shabina Qayyum, was at the site of the clean-up and said: “Residents have fed back that there is anti-social behaviour, there are fly-tipping hotspots, that the city centre feels unsafe and unwelcoming, it’s dirty, it’s grimy.
“So our officers across the directorates have come together with our volunteers and with local councillors to tackle this operation.”
Cllr Qayyum noted that Operation Horizon was a continuous effort that would see the team of staff, councillors and other volunteers meet every few months to keep on top of the issues that harmed the city centre.
She added: “This is not just a one-off spring clean. We’ve got to understand that pride in our city isn’t just about cleanliness, it’s about how businesses feel that they can have more footfall, it’s about how residents feel about their city centre and it’s about every single person taking collective responsibility.”
Cllr Qayyum said the council would create a City Impact Team which would “go back to the basics” of being visible and approachable.
Other issues being tackled as part of the operation included: begging, rough sleeping, taxi and private hire compliance, parking contraventions, and boat-related anti-social behaviour/encroachment onto the embankment.
Cllr Chris Wiggin, cabinet member for environment, felt it was important that the public could see the council taking a hands-on approach to the problems in the area.
“We did a walk along Potters Way and found some fly-tipping which included evidence of the name and address of the person who left it, so that’s been passed onto our enforcement team to be dealt with,” he told the LDRS.
“For a lot of people coming to the city – whether it’s for the football, for the beer festival, for the cathedral or for anything else – the city centre is all they see so it’s a first impression and we want to make sure that it’s a good one.”
The council is carrying out the operation alongside partners including Peterborough Positive and Cambridgeshire Police.
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