Cardiff council has put out a call for volunteers to help sweep up fallen autumn leaves on the city's streets, but some people aren't happy about it. To mark the beginning of autumn, the council has promoted its 'Big Sweep' scheme, which has been running in parts of the capital for the last seven years and encourages residents to collect leaves on their street to keep them clear.
With the collection teams unable to "be everywhere at once" as they clear up leaf fall during the busy period, residents can help out by using bags supplied by the council to sweep up the fallen leaves on their street. Individuals and groups of neighbours are being encouraged to get involved, with bags being collected by the council when they are full.
However, while the 'Big Sweep' has proven popular by bringing communities together and keeping streets clean, some residents have called the scheme a "joke", and said that the work should only be done by the council. Get the latest news from across Cardiff sent straight to your inbox for free by signing up to our newsletter.
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Promoting the initiative on its Facebook page, the council said: "If you live somewhere with trees on your street, then why not take part in a local “Big Sweep”. We will provide bags and you can collect the leaves on your street. This community volunteering can be done either individually by yourself or you can get your neighbours involved for a leaf clear up."
However, while many praised the scheme, others were quick to voice their opposition. A number of those who commented on the post suggested that residents should not be expected to carry out "council work" while paying council tax, while others criticised the council's decision to make less frequent kerbside garden waste collections during the autumn and winter months.
"Exactly £125 a month and they want me to clean the leaves up, not on my watch," said one, with another asking "How much do you pay us per hour to do the job we pay you to do via our council tax annual payments?" A third added: "Do residents that do get a council tax rebate for doing your jobs for you?," while others said the call for volunteers was "unbelievable" and "a joke".
Others questioned why the scheme was being promoted just weeks after the council confirmed kerbside garden waste collections were being reduced to a monthly service before being suspended fully during December, January and February. While the council has defended this decision, with the amount of garden waste collected reducing significantly over the winter months, others have called for collections to be made more regularly.
"If you can provide and pickup full bags, why can't you continue collecting green bins?" asked one. "This thought process of the council is way off and as usual makes no sense. Just do your job for which we pay! Cardiff as a city is getting dirtier and dirtier. I've heard so many people in the city saying how dirty it looks because there is no street cleaning. You'll be asking the shop workers to collect rubbish next."
Another asked: "Why not UP the collection of green bins during this time rather than reduce them? It doesn’t make sense to use more plastic when we have large receptacles to collect this biomatter," while a third wrote: "But you’ve reduced the frequency of green bin collections? Residents are far more likely to clear outside their house/road if it’s convenient & leaves can be deposited straight in their green bins, none of this collecting specific bags malarkey - unfortunately ours is full."
However, many others were more positive about the scheme and said they would get behind it in order to help their community stay clean. "My parents and grandparents used to always clean in front of the house and kerbs," wrote one. "This has passed onto myself and I hope my kids will follow."
"It's called 'taking pride in your neighbourhood'," added another. "You know, like sweeping and washing the pavements outside your house like your great grand-mothers used to do, instead of sitting back and saying 'not my job'. Most folk these days seem to have lost all that sense of pride, although in the street next to us, it's noticeable that some still do it."
Another person wrote: "You don't have to collect the leaves, you just have to have some empathy and understanding that a small team can't be everywhere at once," while a fourth commented: "I get everyone complaining but I've got to confess that we've done this the last three years and seems to be a highlight of our eight-year-old's year.
"It would be great if council would do it and it shouldn't be down to individuals. Having said that it's a lovely thing to do as a community and we usually do the drives and fronts of neighbours too."
A spokesperson for Cardiff council explained that figures show that the amount of garden waste collected from residents’ homes reduces by 80% over the winter season, with collection crews instead focusing on the collection of food waste, black bag waste and recycling which significantly increases as people spend more time at home leading up to Christmas. They added that the Big Sweep programme is purely voluntary and aims to "engender goodwill and two-way respect between residents and council staff," having proven popular in past years.
“The idea of the ‘Big Sweep’ isn’t for the public to carry out work that the council will be doing," they said. "But to reach out to community groups and individuals that are established across the city, who volunteer to help out through the Love Where You Live campaign - Love Where You Live, Keep Cardiff Tidy.
“The ‘Big Sweep’ has been running for seven years in Pontcanna and Riverside and has since spread to other areas. It is about residents and the council working together to remove the huge amounts of leaves that collect on certain streets. The programme was established by the community and is extremely popular with hundreds of residents taking part. The sweeps engender goodwill and two-way respect between the residents and council staff."
The spokesperson added: “The wider Love Where You Live campaign was devised to bring communities together, so that residents can take pride in the communities that they live in. This is reflected in some of the comments that have been published on social media in relation to the ‘Big Sweep’, although it is accepted that some people will always be negative towards volunteer community schemes like this.
“As part of the ‘Big Sweep’, the council will provide the bags and collect them afterwards. If anyone would like to take part and are not already part of a volunteer group, please get in touch via email lovewhereyoulive@cardiff.gov.uk or call 029 2071 7564.”
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