Street Scene reorganised

6.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 8th Jul 2008

No-one seriously thinks Street Scene is doing a good job. Its creation a couple of years ago, which aimed to save money by making street cleaning and horticultural staff generalists, thus losing the horticultural expertise and tradition for which Darlington was rightly famous, has resulted in a severe decline in standards across the Borough.

Residents of North Road ward constantly complain about the poor service they receive from Street Scene.

Councillors Fred Lawton and Mike Barker have complained many times to the Council that their North Road ward is being neglected by Street Scene. The town centre seems to get priority within the "Central" area.

Now, at last, the Council has listened to us! The "North Road Corridor" will get its own local Street Scene manager who will try to make sure North Road gets a proper service. We're not convinced the way the workforce is organised will result in a better service, but at least this is the start of an acknowledgement from the Council that they've got it wrong.

Residents should phone Street Scene on 388777 to report any problems with rubbish, dog dirt or general cleanliness.