Eyesore Gardens update:
Barking and Dagenham Council's groundbreaking Eyesore Gardens scheme will feature on prime time television in September.
The flagship scheme will be showcased on BBC 1's the 'One Show', the channel's topical magazine programme.
For the show, former BBC political correspondent and 'Strictly Come Dancing' star, John Sergeant, visited the borough to see for himself the Eyesore Gardens team in action.
The innovative scheme will also feature in the next season of ITV's popular Grime Fighters series.
The latest Eyesore Gardens clean-up day in the streets around Rusholme Avenue, Heath Ward on 13 August cleared 1.4 tonnes of waste.
Since the scheme started last October the Eyesore Gardens team has visited nearly 6000 gardens, served over 600 legal notices, provided assistance to more than 150 residents and removed nearly 25 tonnes of waste from Borough gardens.
Introduction
It doesn't take much to spoil the look of a whole neighbourhood. Even if you've got a row of well kept front gardens it only takes one or two overgrown hedges, rusting cars or rotting mattresses to make the whole street look like a tip.
The vast majority of residents are proud of their borough and take good care of their gardens. But unfortunately there are areas which have been blighted by badly overgrown or rubbish-strewn front yards. Often the problem is down to private landlords who fail to maintain their properties and dump rubbish like old furniture outside.
We know that people are worried about the problem because they've been telling us about it. The council has listened to those concerns and that's why we've set up Eyesore Gardens.
In its first month the Eyesore Gardens team cleared eight tons of rubbish from front gardens. They visited 850 houses and issued 60 legal notices. This has made a real improvement to the look and feel of the borough, but there is more to be done. You can help by reporting a problem on the contact page of this website or calling the team on 020 8215 3010.
Councillor Liam Smith
Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council