A Sense of Place

The project came into force as a way to improve the 'environment and feel within the district.'

In April 2008 RDC identified six issues in the community that they felt could be improved upon: fly tipping, graffiti, dog fouling, fly posting, littering, un-tidy land, gardens, industrial estates and empty shops.

In order to deal more robustly with these problems, two highly experienced enforcement officers were taken on board to spearhead the project.

Due to the nature of the work involved, often requiring covert surveillance, the Observer is withholding their full identity.

The enforcement officers are two retired police officers; former inspector Michael, and former detective constable Robin.

Between them they have over thirty years experience in the police force.

Initially, Michael said they set about identifying which areas the council wanted improvement on, and what they were hoping to achieve with the Sense of Place project.

Michael said: "We set up a process and put together a unit based on what we'd been doing for thirty years in the police force. We began investigating fly-tipping and assisting police with the initial investigations of graffiti and other issues."

One area needing improvement was the way in which offences, identified by witnesses, were reported, Michael said:

"There wasn't a proper process in place so an IT consultant designed a straightforward form where anyone in an organisation, or any member of the public, who sees a fly-tipping offence being committed, can report it by phone. A simple form is competed, emailed to us straight away, and we immediately take action on it."

Once Michael and Robin receive the information they contact a team of compliance officers (overseen by Verdant the independent municipal services specialists contracted by RDC) who work in the field. They are based at various locations throughout the Rother area and once contacted are quickly at the scene of an offence.

Tip-off's from the public, particularly in regards to fly-tipping in many of Rother's vast rural areas, has lead to a number of arrests and convictions.

The team use various methods to catch offenders, and Michael said they rely on the general public to call in with information if they witness an offence.

This information can be quickly analysed and if car registration numbers are provided it doesn't take Michael and Robin long to track down offenders to their homes and send them a letter.

Michael said: "Rother is a place with a lot of rural areas and we've had a lot of success catching fly-tippers."

Michael and Robin work in conjunction with the police and compliance officers, Michael said:

"The compliance officers are trained to go to wherever the fly tip is, take photographs of the scene, and search through it for clues. It's exactly the same process and initial investigation that the police would do."

The team have dealt with a number of serious fly-tipping situations including a large amount of asbestos, dumped in Stonestile Lane, Westfield. The road was closed to enable a specialist company to remove and disposed of the toxic substance at a cost of 3,000.

Recently large areas of Rother have been targeted by graffiti vandals, Michael said they will catch whoever is responsible:

"Graffiti is criminal damage and these people are criminals. We work in partnership with the police and any photographs or information that we obtain we send to them."

A lot of graffiti in the area has been removed thanks to the Community Payback Scheme which sees convicted offenders on community service orders assist with the removal of the graffiti.

Michael said: "Cleaning up graffiti makes us more determined to catch the criminals who do it. It is a crime."

Cleaning up the area as a whole, to make it a more pleasant environment for residents and for visitors to the area is the prime objective of the Sense of Place Unit.

Michael said: "Improving the area will give the right perception to visitors and will encourage more people to visit.

"It's important for the local community to feel safe, living in an area that appears safe. We have a duty to ensure that, as much as we can do, that residents live in a clean, safe environment."

For further information visit the website at: www.rother.co.uk