Covert cameras may be used to identify litter louts in York

The York Council is understood to be testing the use of covert surveillance cameras in a bid to deal with increasing problems with fly tipping, littering and dog fouling.

The latest figures reveal that only 6 people were fined for littering offences in the City during the last financial year.

Even fewer were issued with a ticket for allowing their dogs to foul a public area. Only one was issued last year.

Some snickets in York are littered every day

We understand that a new model of portable CCTV camera is now being piloted.  The camera is fully GDPR compliant

Some ward committees have allocated funding in the past with the intention of providing surveillance for streets subject to anti social behaviour. The plans have never come to anything.

Now it seems that some Councillors are prepare to call time on activities which are costly to clean up and, in the case of dog fouling at least, may be a potential public health risk.

The Council have not provided details of where the trials are taking place or what their priorities might be if the scheme is extended to cover the whole City.

Fixed penalty notices issued in York for littering
Fixed penalty notices in York for dog fouling

Graffiti update in August

The York Council is due to receive an update report on the problem of graffiti in the City when its Executive meets in August.

Graffiti on the Ouse still visible from trains entering and leaving the City

First quarter performance stats will be published by the York Council.

Residents will be looking to see whether the increase in reports of graffiti, evident in March, has continued.

Following recent publicity, the York BID team vowed to tackle the issue in central York, while a couple of weeks ago the Council itself made budgetary provision for a clean up.

Figures on the “open data” web site suggest that around 20% of residents believe graffiti to be a problem in their neighbourhood. The volume of complaints has fluctuated over the last 8 years, but showed a big increase in March.

The Council has not published any recent figures indicating the number of successful prosecutions for graffiti/criminal damage

Trends in graffiti reports in York. Last published figure showed a sharp rise.

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Well done to Cllr Mark Warters who has today challenged the Council on the effectiveness of its weed killing programme. He believes, as do we, that many areas have not been treated by the Councils contractors.

Cllr Warters photo which evidenced the lack of weed killing on public paths