Birmingham has stolen the crown of ‘cleanest place in Britain’ from the City of London.
England’s second city was also named overall winner at the Clean Britain Awards, run by the British Cleaning Council. Ipswich won the cleanest town title, and Mendip was named cleanest district. In addition, Cardiff was singled out for commitment to the environment, and Truro was voted best tourist’s eye view.
Paul Pearce, Clean Britain Judge, said: ‘Birmingham city centre is a shining example to the rest of the UK on exactly how to keep the streets sparkling.’
The panel said Birmingham treats its city centre as a visitor priority area with a special focus on transport hubs, while Ipswich and Mendip both operate partnership working schemes to tackle environmental problems such as graffiti and fly-tipping.
Councillor Len Gregory, cabinet member for transportation and street services at Birmingham, said: ‘We recently launched a £2M scheme to improve street cleanliness across the city. I am proud that we have beaten off some tough contenders from the whole country to receive this accolade.’
Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
