Time to clean up our neighbourhoods - Poots

Environment Minister Edwin Poots today invited members of the public to have their say on plans to improve the quality of their local environment.

The Minister was speaking as he launched a consultation on a draft Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill.

He said: "There is little doubt that local environmental quality issues such as litter, abandoned vehicles, dog fouling and fly-posting are major concerns for local residents which impact on the quality of life in our public places and local neighbourhoods. Neglect promotes further deterioration and this can lead to anti-social behaviour and higher levels of crime."

He added: "People want to live in neighbourhoods that are clean and safe. Our streets, parks, town squares and open spaces are great assets and places that form the heart of our communities. They are where people meet, where they travel to work, where they live and where our children play. They should be places of which we are all proud and which foster a sense of civic pride."

The proposed Bill contains provisions designed to improve the quality of the local environment by giving district councils additional powers, similar to their counterparts in England and Wales. These powers will enable them to deal more effectively with litter, nuisance alleys, fly-posting and graffiti, abandoned and nuisance vehicles, dogs, noise and other nuisance problems.

The Minister added: "It is now well understood that a cleaner neighbourhood is an integral part of ensuring a safer neighbourhood. We are proposing to help district councils to tackle problems at a local level more effectively by enabling them to address issues through more comprehensive and user friendly legislation and guidance."

The consultation can be viewed and downloaded from the DOE website

The consultation runs until 23 April 2010.

Notes to editors:

1. The draft Bill is based on corresponding provisions in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (England and Wales) concerning gating orders; vehicles; litter; graffiti and other defacement; controls on dogs; noise; and various miscellaneous issues including fixed penalty receipts, abandoned shopping and luggage trolleys, statutory nuisances and offences relating to pollution. The provisions concerning graffiti and other defacement and some aspects of the provisions concerning noise are also based on corresponding provisions in the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act.
2. Hard copies and copies of the consultation document in alternative formats can be made available on request from the Department of the Environment by telephone 028 9025 4878, by text phone 028 9054 0642, by fax 028 9025 4732 or in writing from Mark Allison, Department of Environment, Calvert House, 23 Castle Place, Belfast BT1 1FY.
3. For media enquiries please contact DOE Press Office 028 9054 0014 or out of office hours, contact the EIS Duty Press Officer on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.