Survey confirms Mucky Merton is residents’ top concern
Three years after Merton Council last conducted a survey, the 2017 Residents’ Survey confirms that street cleaning and litter remains top of residents’ list of concerns.
Commenting after the results were published on Friday, Councillor James Holmes, Deputy Leader of Merton Conservative Group said:
“We welcome the return of the Annual Residents’ Survey as it is vital that the Council understands the views of residents right across our borough. That’s why we have been campaigning for Merton Labour to reinstate it ever since the last survey in 2014.
“It is great to see that the vast majority of residents are satisfied with Merton as a place to live and that, following recent terror attacks in London, people from different ethnic backgrounds continue to get on well together in our borough. This is testament to the hard work and commitment of council staff, key partners and Merton’s many voluntary and community groups.
“However, residents clearly still have serious concerns about the state of local streets and public spaces. Satisfaction rates with street cleaning, refuse collection, recycling facilities and the way the council deals with litter have all continued to fall in the last 3 years.
“Merton Labour are failing in their duty to keep our streets clean and tidy. Half of all residents in Wimbledon town centre now see rubbish and litter as a big problem. This is hardly surprising when Labour have axed the weekly street clean and made massive cuts to the number of street cleaners. Under their new waste contract, missed rubbish collections have risen dramatically.
“Quite rightly Merton should look shiny and clean for next week’s tennis championships. However, the Labour-run council needs to listen to residents and get a grip on the situation for the rest of the year too.”
ENDS
Note to Editors:
1) The last Annual Residents’ Survey was conducted back in the autumn of 2014 (results published in January 2015).
2) Labour’s record after 7 years leading the council includes the following:
- Only 53% of residents regard street cleaning in Merton as good or very good (down from 54% in 2014). Satisfaction with the refuse collection service (69%) and recycling facilities (71%) is also down compared to 3 years ago and there has been a fall in the percentage of people satisfied with how the council deals with litter (to 60%).
- Only 43% of residents in Wimbledon town centre (Dundonald, Trinity and Abbey wards) rate street cleaning as good or very good, well below the borough average of 53%. Residents in both Wimbledon and Mitcham town centres describe rubbish and litter as a big problem (49% and 66% respectively), well above the borough average of 37%.
- Residents in Wimbledon, Mitcham and Colliers Wood town centres have considerably higher levels of concern than average about drug use, drunkenness and groups hanging around in the streets.
- There has been a 7% decrease in satisfaction amongst users of Merton’s secondary schools since 2014 (to 62%).
- Gangs, crime and litter are currently the biggest concerns for young people in Merton.
- Half of all residents now say the council is difficult to get through to on the phone. This is an 11% increase since 2014.
- Satisfaction with the way the council runs things is significantly lower amongst disabled residents than non-disabled residents. Disabled residents are also less positive about their own health and wellbeing and less likely to feel safe after dark. This continues a worrying trend that has developed in the last 4 or 5 years.
3) The full results of the 2017 Residents’ Survey can be found at the following link:
If you wish to speak to Deputy Leader of Merton Conservatives, Cllr James Holmes, please contact him on 07717 411268.