OCT 2010 - A clean sweep for Oakridge

A clean sweep for Oakridge

Staff from here and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council will hit the streets next week in a bid to give parts of Oakridge a facelift. The two organisations are rolling up their sleeves on Monday 18 October using Oakridge Hall for All as their mission headquarters.

The hitsquad will meet at 9.30am every day at the Hall for All to run through their task list. Residents can drop in and get involved or point out work they’d like added to the list, using the suggestion box in the hall. As well as the general clean up, we are hiring two skips to clear the streets of flytipping.

Making a real difference

Our Executive Director Val Bagnall said: “We’ve been consulting with residents to find out what they’d like us to tackle first. We’ve already got quite a list including; graffiti removal, tree pruning, weeding, litter picking and flytipping. We’ll have six Sentinel volunteers on hand everyday together with four staff from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. This is just one of the ways we’re investing in local communities and making a real difference for residents.”

The team has given themselves 11 days to bring the area up to scratch and once the work is complete, will get together with local residents to agree a Neighbourhood Charter. This joint agreement outlines what residents want to see in their neighbourhood and agrees how everyone can work together to maintain the new standards.

“The Neighbourhood Charter will set out our commitment to the area so residents can see what standard of service to expect from us,” added Val Bagnall, “we take pride in the neighbourhoods we manage and want residents to feel they can do the same.”

Investing in your community

We have an ongoing programme of estate walkabouts, neighbourhood surveys and feedback from caretakers, all of which help to prioritise investment in local neighbourhoods.

Cabinet Member for the Environment and Climate Change Cllr Elaine Still said: “The council is committed to ensuring that the borough is clean and tidy and people have pleasant areas to live.

“By working in partnership with Sentinel and local people, we believe we can achieve greater long-term results and solutions to keep areas clear of fly-tipping and graffiti, but communities need to ensure they also take pride in the areas they live in.”

The clean-up will take place across two weeks, and work will include hedge trimming and tidying, clearing fly-tipping, removing graffiti, at targeted areas including: Freemantle Close, Taverner Close, Westray Close, Silvester Close, Bennet Close, Norn Hill, Martin Close, Gregory Close, Coleman Close, Wateridge Road, Normanton Road, Mullins Close, Osborne Close, Millard Close.