Mid Suffolk District Council undertakes regular scheduled street cleaning of adopted roads and footpaths within towns and villages in the District. Different areas of the District are cleaned on different frequencies, but as a general rule, Stowmarket town centre is cleaned every day.

It is important to note however, that our schedules are flexible and we do not clean a street that does not need cleaning. The emphasis of the Council is to do our best to keep Mid Suffolk District clean. That means that if you report areas (or we find areas) that have become a problem, we will deal with them rather than sticking to a schedule just because it exists.

Mid Suffolk District Council is responsible for the scheduled mechanical sweeping of all kerbed and drained roads within the district. This is generally performed on a quarterly or half-yearly basis according to need.

Leaf and blossom fall
MSDC do remove leaf and blossom fall, however this is an unpredictable task and we would ask the public to report areas that are problematic.

Suffolk County Council is responsible for any emergency clearing of materials, including mud, that might be a hazard on the highway and storm water drains.
Report a problem with flooding and drainage

Standards and Response times
The Council’s legal duty is set out in the Government's Code of Practice for litter, and this describes expected response times for different land use types. The full code can be viewed here

Roadside litter
Road side litter is one of the fastest growing litter problems.

The high levels of traffic on roads such as the A14 and A140 make clearing litter a dangerous proposition. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 makes allowance for this and as such litter clearance that might require road closure is to be performed when practicable and preferably incorporated in to other scheduled works.

The litter clearance work for the A14 has now been taken back in house as part of a partnership scheme with Ipswich Borough Council & Babergh District Council.  The team carry out works within MSDC district as well as the partnership area boundaries.

Heavily littered areas are tackled by our litter "Hit Squad".  This busy team are often diverted from their normal route to deal with significant accumulations of litter or fly-tips.

To report an issue for our Hit Squad, or any other street care problem, online click here or contact our Customer Service Centre

Dead Animals

All dead wild and domestic animals on the highway are collected by the MSDC street cleansing team.

Dead animals causing an obstruction on the A14 should be reported directly to the Highways contractor Atkins on 01473 835842.

Dead animals in watercourses are a health risk. Please report these to our Customer Service Centre

Dog & Litter bins

The majority of dog and litter bins across Mid Suffolk are supplied and maintained by the local town or parish council.  MSDC's street cleansing team empty bins mostly on a weekly basis, with bins in busy areas emptied more frequently.

Requests for new or replacement bins should be directed to the appropriate town or parish council.

Problems with overflowing bins should be reported to our Customer Service Centre or on-line report an issue with a dog or litter bin.

Graffiti

Graffiti will be removed from areas accessible to the public including:

• Street surfaces and buildings and structures in/on the public street
• Land, buildings and structures owned by an educational institution or statutory undertaker including transport operators.
• Mid Suffolk District Council property
• Private property visible to the public (if this is not undertaken by the property owner)

The council does not have the power to remove graffiti from land and properties belonging to the Crown or the National Health Service. Under the Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act (2005), the defacement of private property must be offensive or detrimental to the local amenity to qualify for free removal by the council.

Where the defacement is on private property, the council encourages property owners to remove graffiti. Failure to do this may result in the issuing of a Defacement Removal Notice. However, if the defacement is offensive, MSDC are happy to work with the owners to remove the defacement as quickly as possible.

Related links

Keep Britain Tidy Campaign
Keep Britain Tidy are an environmental charity and the anti-litter campaign for England find out more about their work at
http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/AboutUs/Default.aspx

Greener Safer Cleaner Communities
Find out about the initiatives that really work; and How to... tackle those cleaner safer greener issues which will make more of your community.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/livingplacescleaner