Ryedale residents dispute report (From Gazette & Herald)

Ryedale residents dispute report

RYEDALE is a clean place to live, according to a national survey.

But residents claim the survey has ignored dirty rubbish-strewn streets in Malton and Norton.

The review of the district has been carried out for Ryedale District Council by independent surveyors ENCAMS.

More than 100 sites which were looked at were predominantly free of litter and refuse. Overall, says the survey, Ryedale is well above the national average.

The survey highlights a number of areas which need improvement, including roadside weeds and litter in the district's market towns, and the council's cleaning team is said to be doing well, generally.

But Norton Mayor Keith Mennell said the council should not be patting itself on the back just yet.

"The cleanliness of Ryedale is not up to the standard I would like to see," he said.

"I went down Commercial Street, in Norton, recently and found there was a great deal of rubbish.

"One particular problem is the number of cigarette butts in the gutters, it's absolutely disgusting.

"The reason they are there is that the council uses sweeper vans which can't get to the gutters because of all the parked cars.

"But if they employed a man with a brush it wouldn't be a problem."

Malton resident Eric Hall said that despite pleas in the Evening Press for the council to clean up outside his home in Old Maltongate he still has to do the work himself. "Dust and mud is a terrible problem because now the dry weather is coming it starts blowing about," he said.

"Rubbish gathers in the gutters outside my home. When I complained to the council about it they came out once or twice, but stopped coming after a while."

Coun Elizabeth Shields, chairman of Ryedale's community services and licensing committee, said members were delighted with the survey results.

"Council staff work hard to ensure the area is as litter free as possible," she said.

"However, we are lucky that so many Ryedale residents take the hard line over litter and work with us to keep the district clean.

"We already work in partnership with North Yorkshire County Council to ensure weeds are tackled, and although the issue of pedestrian litter has been mentioned in the report the problem is not as great as with many other local authorities."

Updated: 09:19 Monday, April 15, 2002