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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 4 September 2009
 

Cllr Greg Foxsmith: ‘A minority make life unpleasant for everyone else’
Street sweeper’s view of the mess we leave behind

THE new road sweeper looked vaguely familiar to passers by in Upper Holloway – and to this reporter, out on Tribune business. But it was quite evident, as the sweeper painstakingly chased even the smallest item of litter, that he was new to the job.

It was only a neighbourly “good morning,” from a resident in Sunnyside Road that revealed his identity. The man pushing the broom was Lib Dem councillor Greg Foxsmith, the Town Hall’s environment chief.
Cllr Foxsmith had decided to spend the morning last Thursday sweeping streets around Elthorne Park to learn about the job and its pressures.
Before he was sent off with his barrow, he had to be fitted out with protective clothing, including a high-visibility jacket, strong gloves and “ballistic” trousers, which have extra padding to stop glass or addicts’ needles sticking into legs.
The sweeper has an array of tools – a pavement broom, a stiffer channel broom to remove silt, sand or mud, a “witch’s broom” for awkward places, a hoe to clear weeds and a shovel.
“By the end of my shift I was really tired,” said Cllr Foxsmith. “I hate it when people drop litter as it is, but this experience made me appreciate how hard it is for the people who clean our streets.
“Even worse than the people who drop paper are the dog owners who allow their dogs to mess the pavement.”
Cllr Foxsmith would like to see zero tolerance on litter and dog mess.
“There’s a small minority who drop litter and allow their dogs to foul the pavement and they make life unpleasant for everyone else,” he said.

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Your comments:

ROCK on Cllr Foxsmith! He is such a credit to Islington - I just wish all councillors worked as hard as he does.
Naomi A-B

GOES to show that Islington Lib democrats Councilors are committed to the borough, and more than willing to undertake roles are the grass roots, to ensure that the decisions they make are the Wright ones.
P. Stevens
 
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