THE leader of Kirklees Council has urged Huddersfield residents to help him tackle town centre “grot spots”.
Clr Mehboob Khan wants people to email him with details of instances of littering and graffiti – so the council can put pressure on property owners to clean up eyesores sites.
His pledge follows an Examiner article highlighting how discarded rubbish, graffiti and boarded up buildings are blighting the town centre.
Examples cited by Edgerton businessman Ron Kitchen included bags of rubbish left on steps, litter-strewn stairwells, empty bottles and beer cans in side streets and derelict buildings covered in fly posters.
Clr Khan said he welcomed the Examiner’s article and called for support to create a greater degree of civic pride.
He said: “We have had a real drive to tackle fly posting and graffiti.
“We have bought new equipment to wash and remove dirt and chewing gum from pavements. But it is clear that our expectations must be even higher.”
Clr Khan said the level of the problem became apparent to him during a walk from the town hall to attend a meeting at the Media Centre.
On the way, he saw examples of eyesores including a pool of oil outside St Peter’s Church and flower pots and planters used as ashtrays.
Clr Khan said many of the problems involved private land.
“The council is prepared to take enforcement action against the owners to clean up their sites,” he said. “But we would prefer to find the owners and speak to them.
“There are sometimes easy solutions to these problems. If the owners want us to clear things up for them, we will, although in some cases we will have to make a charge.”
Clr Khan said people could email him with examples of “grot spots” so he could build up a picture of the worst cases for council officers to target.
And he added: “I am not bothered if I get bombarded with emails.
“I’ll even put the grot spots on my blog – mehboobkhan.net – so everyone can see them.
“Let’s find out where the problems are and work with the owners of these properties to sort them out. I will take each email seriously.”
Clr Khan said improving the look of the town was important as part of efforts to encourage more shoppers, visitors and businesses into Huddersfield.
Email mehboobkhan@kirklees.gov.uk
