COUNCIL chiefs are to consider a crackdown on the unsightly rubbish which has blighted Worcester’s High Street for a number of years.
In a bold bid to improve the appearance of the city centre, members of Worcester City Council’s cabinet will meet on Tuesday (February 9) to discuss a package of measures to rid the city of the sight of bin bags and cardboard boxes.
Proposed measures will restrict the times when waste bags can be left outside shops and businesses to ensure the city centre is free of trade waste during the evening and prime shopping hours.
The City Council’s cabinet will be asked to approve a consultation with city businesses and the general public on new plans which will see trade waste only out for collection between 6am and 9.30am.
Coun Andy Roberts, cabinet Member for a Clean, Green and Safe City, said: “Our aim is to provide businesses with a clear and consistent message which will help them to comply with the law, and help us to improve the overall appearance of the city centre.
“Trade waste bins and bags look unattractive and as well as posing an obstruction, have the potential to be split open by gulls and other vermin.
“The City Council is committed to enhancing the city centre, so it is an attractive place both for visitors and for businesses to operate in,” he added.
The issue of trade waste in the busy retail areas of Worcester has provoked much debate over recent years.
On his election as Mayor in May, Coun Roger Knight pledged to ‘rid the city’s High Street of rubbish outside shop fronts of an evening’.
Adrian Field from Worcester BID (Business Improvement District) said: “The consultation is a good chance to get the views of businesses, to see what they think and to gather some evidence.
“I hope it will reduce the amount of trade waste that is sometimes needlessly left outside of businesses.
“Hopefully it will make the city centre a more pleasant place for residents and visitors.”
Trade waste collection is not funded by Business Rates, so city centre businesses choose from a range of operators to take their rubbish away.
The City Council does offer a paid-for service, and its customers are currently asked to put their waste out for collection on the morning of collection – reducing the time in which bags are sat on shop frontages.
If councillors vote to pursue the trade waste policy, an official six-week consultation will be launched in the near future.
* What do you think? E-mail [email protected] or write to the address on page six with your view
