Power to smarten up the streets

Street wardens in Newark have new powers to deal with a range of problems including littering, graffiti and dog fouling.

Working on behalf of Newark and Sherwood District Council, wardens from Newark and Sherwood Homes can issue fixed penalty notices of £75.

Mr Frank Bartle, property and sales manager at Newark and Sherwood Homes, said: “We are not going to throw the fines around like confetti.

“We are hoping to change people’s lifestyles and educate them not to break the law, rather than punish them for doing so.”

Previously wardens had to refer problems with littering and dog fouling to the district council, as they had the power only to issue warnings to council tenants who breached the terms and conditions of their tenancy agreement.

Their new powers extend as far as enforcing dog control orders and issuing fines for abandoning vehicles and urinating in the street.

Mr Bartle said: “This way we are cutting out the middle man.

“The new powers cover a lot of the things our tenants and residents moan about and we are more responsive because we are on the patch every day anyway.

“We are supporting people to comply with the rules. It’s only if they don’t that they will be fined.”

The new powers have been in place for a month and so far no fines have been issued.

A street warden for Newark and Sherwood Homes, Mr John Hancox, said the threat of a fine had been enough to make people comply.

“Last week I saw a woman dump two mattresses. Once she was threatened with the fine, they were moved within 30 minutes,” he said.

“A lot of it is down to laziness and ignorance.”

Mr Stephen Feast, business services director of Newark and Sherwood Homes, said: “We are committed to keeping local communities clean, tidy and free from anti-social behaviour.

“These new powers further strengthen our ability to deal effectively with the issues that affect the daily lives of our tenants and residents.

“We will seek to help and support people to comply with the legislation but for those who are persistent offenders we will not hesitate to use the powers available to us.”