Street cleaning up for national team of the year award

The awards recognise and celebrate local authorities which are committed to making significant improvements to the environment on people’s doorsteps, from community engagement to waste enforcement.

The team was shortlisted for its work throughout the pandemic, which saw it responding to an increase in fly tipping, litter bin emptying and dog fouling bin emptying. 

But the pandemic also saw the team supporting an increasing number of community litter picks, providing equipment and a collection service to residents who wanted to use their allotted outdoor time to litter pick within their community.

Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for public realm said:

I’m delighted our fantastic street cleansing team has been shortlisted for yet another award.

They work tirelessly to keep our streets clean throughout the year and during the pandemic have needed to respond to an increase in issues such as fly tipping too.

But the team is also proud of its work supporting community litter picks, providing equipment for volunteers and collecting filled bags at the end and it was great to see so many people wanting to use their exercise time to litter pick in their community.

Well done to the team and I wish them the best of luck in bringing another award back to Dudley.

Dudley is one of three teams shortlisted for the award and the winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in Birmingham on February 10.

Allison Ogden-Newton, Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive, said:

I would like to congratulate Dudley Council on being shortlisted for one of our annual awards.

We know people want to live in places that are clean and tidy and local authorities have a massive role to play in this and should rightly be recognised for their efforts.