A Clean Sweep

Last painted in 1900? (Photo Credit)

The news that Conwy County has been awarded top marks with regard to the cleanliness of its streets is welcome indeed.

"CONWY county has cleaned up in a survey to find the most litter free streets in Wales. The area came out top with inspectors sent out by the Keep Wales Tidy campaign to check on litter and general cleanliness. It achieved an overall score of 72.5% up five points on last year and above the Wales average of 66.87%."

It's certainly fair to say that Conwy's streets and town centres are looking cleaner than ever, and credit should be given to both the Council employees and the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Mike Priestley, for their hard work.

But, of course, much remains to be done. Street cleaning is of a high standard but general maintenance of public areas is nowhere near as good. I've previously mentioned the proliferation of chewing gum on pavements throughout the County - again to his credit, Mike Priestley has promised to tackle the problem.

I've also previously mentioned other areas where improvements made (quite often at relatively little cost ) could significantly improve the appearance of an area. Things like fixing cracked paving stones, painting railings, varnishing benches, planting trees, repainting street nameplates...it's about attention to detail, which as any businessperson knows, makes the difference between a good business and a great business. If Conwy Council can grasp this, then we would really see some progress in raising standards.