The Lakes Estate in Milton Keynes has been looking cleaner and tidier in recent months – this is because a great deal of effort has gone into improving cleanliness on the estate and supporting residents to recycle more since the summer of 2010.

The deep clean started with the council’s waste contractor Serco tackling some of the ‘grot’ that had built up on kerbs and edges of paths over the years. On four days every month, additional staff were brought in to thoroughly cleanse small areas of the estate, allowing the standard cleansing teams to continue as normal.

During this time there was a highly visible council presence – staff from Bletchley & Fenny Stratford Town Council and Milton Keynes Council talked to local residents about the services available to them, handing out leaflets reminding residents of the easy ways to recycle and how to deal with their ‘rubbish’. They were able to collect valuable information as to why many residents do not use particular waste services, such as the blue boxes for recycling glass bottles and jars. As a result of this a number of new ideas have been implemented to help residents deal with their waste more efficiently.

The first of these was a new bin for glass recycling placed by the shops in Serpentine Court. Six months on, the bin has been well received by residents and a total of 1447kg of glass has been collected. As a result of the success of this bin, we are now looking into placing smaller glass recycling bins in other parts of the estate.

Living in a flat can make it difficult to get rid of large bulky items so we’ve put in place an appointment system for residents in Serpentine Court flats to use to dispose of anything they would take with them if they were moving house. Residents call the Environmental Services Contact Centre on 01908 252570 and are told exactly when to put out their large unwanted items and many have taken advantage of the new service. Items removed have ranged from bed frames to baby bouncers, carpet rolls to sofas, as well as wardrobes and white goods. In fact more people used the Bulky Items service in the first two weeks of the appointments system than had used it in the previous six months. An additional advantage to this scheme is that there has been less fly-tipping locally!

The Neighbourhood Warden Maxine, and Sean, the Parish Ranger, have also spent a lot of time checking that recycling and rubbish is being put out on the correct day and time and answering any questions on recycling. Unfortunately some residents have had to be prosecuted because they have not followed advice and dumped rubbish around the estate, or continuously put out rubbish at the wrong time or in the wrong place.

Earlier this year, planning chiefs approved proposals for the £100,000 skating and biking arena to be installed at Homestead Park in Immingham, Preston in response to the growing demand for a fun outdoor facility for the community. Immingham town council and the One Voice Neighbourhood Management Group are now working closely with young people on the project.

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Bradford’s Trident programme has been picked for as a Community Budgeting pilot project by the Government aimed at saving billions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash. A former New Deal for Community, Bradford Trident is now a neighbourhood management organisation.

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The Council have been working with the local communities in Milton Keynes to implement the ‘Good Neighbour Campaign’. Each Neighbourhood area on a day in October went out into their communities to improve the quality of life for the local residents.
The Central Milton Keynes Neighbourhood team were already underway, in conjunction with Thames Valley Police, MKC Housing and local residents of the flats in North 9th and 10th Streets in Central Milton Keynes to revamp an under used communal area. After meeting with local residents it was arranged for the area to be cleansed allowing the landscaping team to cut back the grass and other overgrowth. The culmination of this cleaning effort was a BBQ on Good Neighbour Day.
Food was kindly donated by ‘Iceland’, and CMK Neighbourhood Wardon, Rob Harriman staffed the BBQ. Despite the rain threatening the event it was enjoyed by residents in the much cleaner garden area, allowing them to mingle with their Neighbours. Residents stated that it is the best thing to have happened there in 10yrs and wanted to thank the CMK Neighbourhood Management team for putting the event on.
The possibility of play equipment for the area is now also being looked into.
The Milton Keynes West Neighbourhood Services team held a Community Day in Greenleys. The aim of this day was to raise awareness of Town Council initiatives as well as events and schemes organized by local stakeholders. The event was incredibly well attended with in excess of 250 people coming down.
The Milton Keynes North Neighbourhood Management Team held an event to act as an information and help point for local residents. Due to arson attacks in the area mainly targeting dumped rubbish piles it was decided to invite Bucks Fire and Rescue Service to offer advice on keeping safe in the home. Other stakeholders provided information on the good work that they are doing in the area and offered advice to residents to improve their quality of life.
In Bletchley a multi-agency team knocked on doors in Durrans Court, Fenny Stratford, answering questions, giving out information and recording residents’ comments on living in the area. Bulb planting took place in the Court and the garden of the Sheltered Housing complex. Landscaping maintenance and litter-picking helped to make sure the area looked a lot smarter.
Finally the Milton Keynes South Neighbourhood Management team invited residents down to collect and weigh in conkers, seen by a nuisance by some residents, for a chance to win great prizes, including John Lewis Vouchers for the heaviest weight of conkers collected. As well as the ‘Conker Challenge’ there were games of Conkers, making “Grass Heads”, a bouncy castle and Cadbury’s ‘Spots and Stripes’ also made an appearance. The overall aim of the day, as well as seeing conkers in a different light, was to encourage residents to meet in a neutral space to discuss neighbourhood issues and also a chance to discuss the future of the play area which is subject to improvement. The day was a great success and particularly showed the excellent working relationship between Milton Keynes Council, Woughton Community Council and other Stakeholders.
After the success of these first events the ‘Good Neighbour Campaign’ will continue in the New Year.