FROM GRAFFITI TO WEEDS, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE REMOVED!
With the responsibility falling to businesses to remove graffiti from their premises and weed on their boundary (and in their own doorways), the BID team are kept busy helping to ‘Tidy Up Cheltenham’.
Whether through reporting incidents of graffiti, littering and flyposting or by physically removing it, the BID ambassadors manage to tackle a lot of what blights the town between visiting businesses.
The BID brought in contractors and hired the services of Ubico to tackle some large-scale ‘scribblings’ across the town centre. In all, 10 large areas were painted or jet washed. In addition to that, since January 1 this year, the BID ambassadors have removed graffiti from utility boxes, bins, bus shelters, street furniture, road signs and walls on more than 100 occasions.
We continue to work with the police to find a way to tackle the extensive issue of graffiti – which is criminal damage. If you see graffiti, no matter how long you think it has been there, please report it to the police by emailing 101@ gloucestershire.police.uk and help us to move this to the top of their list of priorities.
We’re all aware of how fast weeds grow and what an unsightly mess they are, so BID ambassadors can frequently be seen carrying hoes and spades and filling black bags with weeds from every area of the town. We continue to lobby for a more frequent and robust weeding schedule from the council and in the meantime, encourage you all to do your bit and remove the weeds from immediately outside your businesses.
Following the success of the Civic Day event in June, the BID organised another event on Winchcombe, Pittville and Albion Streets on September 16. BID staff and volunteers from BID businesses and the Cheltenham Civic Society weeded, litter picked and removed graffiti and stickers. Our hard work was rewarded with delicious pizzas donated by Papa John’s.
