Why we should bring back ‘public works’

Although this is welcome, what is the point in cleaning all of the broken, rocking and sticking up pavements?

A few sayings come to mind. They include the expressions ‘A stitch in time saves nine’ and ‘You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.’

We need competent people to replace them, and in some areas whole sections and perhaps even streets need completely replacing.

Perhaps we should bring back ‘public works’. Employ road sweepers who don’t ignore all the cigarette ends in the Market Square and High Street, and probably the rest of the city centre.

There is more to the job than simply picking up the larger pieces of litter, as I’ve seen him do.

The council talk about taking action against those who drop litter, yet for 12 years they have refused to fine anyone for smoking at the interchange or bus shelters.

You can see them committing this antisocial crime every day at the interchange – even gangs of people smoking – the interchange staff and the council won’t do anything about it and it is a lot more offensive than litter.

At Newcastle, the bins have details of litter fines on them. What do ours have? “My old man’s a dustman”.

This doesn’t mean anything to a lot of people. Most of the younger ones haven’t even heard this song.

Outside of the centre, apart from all the litter that needs to be dealt with, we need all of the loose tar sweeping up.

One of the worst areas is Sydenham Terrace.

Fingers crossed that they finally tackle the work paving in England.

Name withheld