The guarding and services company Kingdom reports it’ll be providing environmental protection services to Gravesham Borough Council in Kent, starting from January 19. The St Helens-based firm will be providing specialist environmental protection officers to tackle litter and dog fouling across the borough, initially for a 12 month trial. The aim is to improve safety and wellbeing and to address residents’ concerns and complaints about littering and dog fouling.
Kingdom provides such environmental protection services to councils nationwide; Gravesham is their fourth council in Kent alongside Maidstone Borough Council, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Canterbury City Council. Gravesham visited Maidstone to see how the arrangement was working. Their site visit found that income generated from enforcement work has been recycled back into further anti-litter and environmental education and more street cleansing equipment such as chewing gum removal machines.
The contractor will issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) on behalf of Gravesham to offenders seen breaking the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Dog Control Order for fouling under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. All officers will be dressed in uniform agreed between Gravesham and Kingdom and will have body-worn CCTV cameras to record video and sound. As well as patrolling Gravesend town centre, officers will work on intelligence-led litter enforcement and dog fouling offences, and will visit some of the outer lying shopping areas such as Perry Street and Lion Garage.
The council will also run an anti-litter and dog fouling campaign, with the aim of helping to encourage a change of behaviour in those who break the Environmental Protection Act and the Dog Control Order.
About the firm
Kingdom’s environmental protection division is led by staff with an ex-police and military background, and delivers over 130,000 environmental protection hours a year on behalf of local authorities across the UK. The contractor tackles street litter, dog fouling and control orders, commercial and residential waste and waste disposal licence checks, smoking in prohibited areas, illegal distribution of free material, criminal damage, graffiti, fly-tipping and post. Visit http://www.kingdom.co.uk/services/environmental-protection/.
