Was walking down Rushdale and Valley Roads in Meersbrook the other day, talking about the state of housefronts and streets. Had a sudden, brilliant revelation. Why doesn't the council/government just make it a legal requirement to keep the front of your house and the bit of road directly outside it in respectable condition, (i.e. paint in reasonable nick, pick up litter, don't leave old mattresses in the front garden for more than a week)? It happens in a lot of other countries like Sweden, where the housefronts are immaculate and the neighbourhoods are clean and...well...just nice!

They could put an extra clause in the papers when you buy a house, so that if you break the agreement you could face a fine, and the same goes for shops and businesses. Easy peasy.

Until someone dumps all their crap on your side because they cant be bothered to clean it up :( and you get landed with a hefty fine or having to clean up the housefront.

Apart from the odd glitch like RPG mentioned, I think that's a fabulous idea. It happens pretty much where I live now anyway!

Right, the sun's out - I'm off to mow the grass verge.

Originally posted by RPG
Until someone dumps all their crap on your side because they cant be bothered to clean it up :( and you get landed with a hefty fine or having to clean up the housefront.

Pessimist....;)

reminds me of the thing housekeepers had to do in medieval times during the balck death lol. anyway it is quite a good idea but you have to make sure no one takes advantage of it.

Originally posted by noseyrosie
Pessimist....;)

I sure am.. I think :lol: :thumbsup:

Now this idea just oozes with plain sense. I love it, and would back it to the hilt. I'm the kind of person who plants bedding plants around the base of the street-tree outside my house.

Next time you are going down Myrtle Road, you'll spot them.

it's a terrible idea. My front yard is my property and my responsability. The moment I step out of my yard onto the pavement, it's not mine and it's for the owner to take care of.

Hmm.. I suppose that you would walk on by pretending to ignore a mugging either?

An even better idea !

Why don't we NOT throw litter on the ground ?

You could say yeah, but:

Put some bins in the streets and parks ? (and empty them!!)

what happens if your choice of colour is not to the coucil liking eg black from your roof all the way down to the pavment.. mmm:thumbsup:

Originally posted by CoNrAd
what happens if your choice of colour is not to the coucil liking eg black from your roof all the way down to the pavment.. mmm:thumbsup:

Well that's easy to solve! Tons of places all over the world, and seaside towns especially in Britain have codes of acceptable colours for house fronts! I'll use Sweden as an example again. In the area surrounding STockholm all the houses are from a small pallet of colours. Looks very smart I must say.

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
An even better idea !

Why don't we NOT throw litter on the ground ?

You could say yeah, but:

Put some bins in the streets and parks ? (and empty them!!)

Maybe I'm a pessimist too...as i don'r believe the British public are ever going to stop doing this, after all, there's been advertising campaigns, and the fact that it's illegal, my idea seems to be more viable.

Originally posted by Cyclone
it's a terrible idea. My front yard is my property and my responsability. The moment I step out of my yard onto the pavement, it's not mine and it's for the owner to take care of.

Glad you care so much about your neighbourhood. I don't know about Walkley, but round here there's a lot of junk on the streets, and also in front gardens (e.g. broken white goods or sofas) in what is otherwise a very nice area. It wouldn't take two minutes to pick up a few crisp packets and put them in the adjacent wheelie bin, and if it was a legal requirement to keep your front yard clean (as I'm sure you already do, but some don't, especially in rented properties) then the whole area would look a lot more respectable.

Glad most people agree with me, maybe we should petition a councillor?

Originally posted by noseyrosie
but round here there's a lot of junk on the streets, and also in front gardens (e.g. broken white goods or sofas) in what is otherwise a very nice area. It wouldn't take two minutes to pick up a few crisp packets and put them in the adjacent wheelie bin, and if it was a legal requirement to keep your front yard clean (as I'm sure you already do, but some don't, especially in rented properties) then the whole area would look a lot more respectable.

Meersbrook is very nice, the house themselves don't look shabby, bric work not dodgy, it is really a shame about litter ont ground, i can't say I have yet seen sofas outside as my section of my road has no gardens and I don't go up the road (where they do) to get the bus (so i'll trust noseyrosie on that one).

I recon even if a garden is your property, if it can be seen form the stret, therefore the public people should be required to have their viewable property in a presentable manner. Not only does it bring your own house down if it's trashy, but also your neighbourg's.

Picking up the litter in the immediate surroundings should really be quick, and makes a real difference.

i'm not disagreeing that you should keep your own garden/yard tidy. I'm saying that I have no wish to be an unpaid street cleaner for the council. I can't decide what to do with that bit of pavement, personally i'd quite like to add it to my yard, block pave it and hold bbq's there. But I can't, it isn't mine. So the owner is responsible for cleaning it.

Tony - not sure where the mugging comment came from. I wouldn't ignore it, but I don't believe there is a law that says I MUST intervene in any muggings that occur outside my home.

Hehe... sorry Cyclone - I was feeling a bit tetchy. I'm ok now - I've had caffiene :thumbsup:

Originally posted by Cyclone
So the owner is responsible for cleaning it.


I think you'll find that you do own it insomuch as it's public property. How much of your time would it take to keep it clear of rubbish?

They have this idea enfoced by law in Germany.
This also means that whenever it snows people immediately clear the paths outside their houses. If they don't and someone slips on your bit of pavement then you are liable. I think it's a good idea.

Nomme

Originally posted by max
I think you'll find that you do own it insomuch as it's public property. How much of your time would it take to keep it clear of rubbish?

Quite right. And since I pay my taxes for the council to take care of publicly owned property... Unless they'd like a bill for my time once a month?

Although on the other hand, if I have to clean it, and I own it. Maybe I can remove the parking restriction at rush hour, ban anyone else from parking there and have my own little spot where I can always park...

Great topic Noseyrosie! You can tell the people who are busy making a life for themselves as they MAKE the time to look after their sensed area of responsiblity. That includes taking care of the bit of path and road in front of the house.

Like you say, it takes seconds to pick up a few bits of litter and put them in the bin. Shop keepers aught to be more responsible as kids like to just drop their rubbish anywhere.

Public bins are good but they dont seem to be emptied often enough and just spill out into peoples gardens.

You can tell alot about a person from the way they keep their house, outside as well as inside.

so there are really two topics here.

is the pavement outside your house "your responsability"

should the law force you to keep in good repair things that are "your responsability" and have a public face.

I say no on the first, and maybe on the 2nd. Personally i take care of my things anyway, but i'm generally against "big brother" like laws, it smacks of your mum making you tidy your room. The government is not my parent, it's not up to them how anyone lives their life.

Originally posted by Cyclone
so there are really two topics here.

is the pavement outside your house "your responsability"

should the law force you to keep in good repair things that are "your responsability" and have a public face.

I say no on the first, and maybe on the 2nd. Personally i take care of my things anyway, but i'm generally against "big brother" like laws, it smacks of your mum making you tidy your room. The government is not my parent, it's not up to them how anyone lives their life.

Fair enough, you already look after your property without a second thought, but some people just don't, and a law like this would make everyone's house look as nice as I'm sure yours does. (Sucking up or what?)

Originally posted by noseyrosie
Fair enough, you already look after your property without a second thought, but some people just don't, and a law like this would make everyone's house look as nice as I'm sure yours does. (Sucking up or what?)

If people were a bit more self conscious there wouldn't be any need for any law...

I for example spent all afternoon spring cleaning, a bit late, but doing the lawn and nuking the kitchen makes yuou proud once you've finished !

North Somerset Council must have been reading this thread...


A man who complained that his street was dirty was sent bin liners and a broom to do the job himself.

Harry Sas, 53, of Old Church Road, Clevedon, was "shocked" when a North Somerset Council employee delivered the cleaning equipment to his home.

The council said it needed the help of the local community to keep areas clean and urged people not to drop litter in the first place.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/3736839.stm

one problem that does not seem to be addressed here in relation to the ideais this:-

What about the residents who happen to be disabled, like myself, or who are frail/ elderly/ ill?

With the best will in the world, I would love to tidy up around the paths near my home, when local school kids throw their sweet and crisps wrappers down to be blown into my garden.

However, I physically cannot do it. so, how would this rule be enforced for people who are unable, such as me?

would I be fined for being physically unable to contribute in this manner to my community?

When I lived on the Hyde Park Flats complex, way, way back when my lad was a tot, lots of the residents did still mop the communal landings and walkways directly outside their flats. As I did not have a disability back then, I did take part in this activity. I mopped my doorstep, and made something of a contribution to the community spirit. it was something that was done, almost to a man, in the early days of the flats complex, as people felt proud to live in these modern, "state-of-the-art" (for the time) flats, and took care of their little "patch". it was the equivalent of "donkey-stoning" your front doorstep, when you lived in your old terraces or back-to-backs.

The problem came when the idiots, and chav-types-in-training moved on, with their Contrary-to-tenancy-agreement-huge-dogs"(TM) and their disgusting habits of letting thir dogs Cr*p and Pee, anywhere and everywhere on the landings... and puking, and pee-ing, themselves, all over these areas, too. (not to mention the strewing of rubbish, particularly the sport of "bombing" which involved the throwing over the landings of black bags of rubbish, in the hope that it might surprise the poor schmuck walking below, when the black bag of rubbish landed either on, or beside him/her.)

It became very hard to overcome the disillusionment, disappointment, and dejection that was felt when you went inside for a few minutes, only to come outside and find that some toe-rag had let their dog/ kids cr*p on your freshly cleaned doorstep. Folk definitely thought "Oh, what's the sodding point?" and simply gave up trying, eventually.

The sense of "fighting a losing battle" definitely prevailed...

How would the rule be enforced, incidentally? who would monitor/police the system? (I am just curious about the practicalities)

PT

the other issue is the standard to which it is set.

We all have different ideas as to what is acceptable.

Personally the front of my house needs a good clean (the brickwork) and all the paintwork stripping down and repainting. I certainly don't have the time or the inclination to do that, and neither do I have the money spare to get it done. I'm doing up the inside first.

For the moment it'll do. But maybe on someone elses scale it's an absolute disgrace.

i allways clean my front,and cut the grass too,within 10 mins,you cant tell its been done:mad: ,some people have no pride,i dont know why i bother

Originally posted by Plain Talker
one problem that does not seem to be addressed here in relation to the ideais this:-

What about the residents who happen to be disabled, like myself, or who are frail/ elderly/ ill?

With the best will in the world, I would love to tidy up around the paths near my home, when local school kids throw their sweet and crisps wrappers down to be blown into my garden.

However, I physically cannot do it. so, how would this rule be enforced for people who are unable, such as me?

would I be fined for being physically unable to contribute in this manner to my community?


Surely a sensible ruling would have an exception or clause of some sort for people who can't carry out the work.

Originally posted by Plain Talker

The problem came when the idiots, and chav-types-in-training moved on, with their Contrary-to-tenancy-agreement-huge-dogs"(TM) and their disgusting habits of letting thir dogs Cr*p and Pee, anywhere and everywhere on the landings... and puking, and pee-ing, themselves, all over these areas, too. (not to mention the strewing of rubbish, particularly the sport of "bombing" which involved the throwing over the landings of black bags of rubbish, in the hope that it might surprise the poor schmuck walking below, when the black bag of rubbish landed either on, or beside him/her.)

Know what you're on about exactly, I did work experience in council housing offices and my Dad has worked in that sector for 15 years or so. I was referring to privately owned/rented houses, but obviously this is a problem in rented council or (to a lesser extent) housing association properties. These kind of scum should be arrested on sight...I have no idea what to say about them, they just **** me off, ruining otherwise pleasant estates.

Originally posted by Plain Talker

How would the rule be enforced, incidentally? who would monitor/police the system? (I am just curious about the practicalities)



What about a confidential snitching service for neighbours...hehehe, I'm sure the old biddies would love it ;)

If it's a choice between tidying land in front of our houses ourselves or paying for it in council tax, it'll choose the former. I'll be far more effective and cheaper.

My idea.

A: Video cameras on every street corner.
B: People seen dropping litter, man woman and child forced to pick up litter on that street for one day a week, preferably Sunday, for a period of six months.
C: A responsible occupant of that street is asked to keep a video diary of these louts doing their duty.
D: Street cleaners released to monitor the cameras on every street corner.

Result? These filthy sods end up cleaning up after themselves, not us picking it up for them.:thumbsup:

result:- David Blunkett is your best friend, you have just introduced country wide video surveillance where he could not.

A national DNA database where everybody's DNA is recorded. Then, if any litter is dropped you can identify the miscreant through their DNA, track them down and punish them with the full force of the law. That, coupled with cctv surveillance on every street, should do the trick.

Police state maybe but we wouldn't be knee deep in rubbish would we?:D :thumbsup:

How about genetically mutated and ill tempered sea bass with laser beams on their heads? It could patrol rivers, streams and shore lines and laser up people who drop litter ;)