Bristol, Truro and City of London Earn Special Awards for Excellence; Extra Award for Birmingham's Waterside
The City of Westminster has just been named as 'Britain's Cleanest City' 2003.
"Simply the best" was how the judges described the heart of the nation's capital, which, despite having to cope with a cleaning challenge unequalled by any other city in the country, swept up the title this year for the first time, brushing aside competition from Bristol, Canterbury, Chester, Edinburgh, Lincoln, the City of London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Plymouth, Truro and York, the other finalists from among the UK's 66 cities invited to enter.
"What amazed us principally was the 'can-do' attitude demonstrated by Westminster's cleaning teams and their bosses," commented Peter Bird, chairman of the BCC judging panel, " whether it was their speed in responding to the oceans of litter left behind by mourners at the Queen Mother's funeral and merrymakers at the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations - and as described in their written submission, this probably merited an award all of its own; the more regular task of collecting and disposing of the 10,000 gallons of urine - never mind about the vomit - dumped each year on West End streets by less congenial revellers; or the valiant attempt to rid Oxford Street pavements of chewing-gum in a 'painting the Forth Bridge' exercise which means that as soon as they finish the job, they need to start all over again at the other end.
Already at work cleaning up the trophy in preparation for its triumphant display are the Deputy Lord Mayor of Westminster, Cllr Louise Hyams (right), Cllr Judith Warner, Cabinet Member, Environment, Westminster City Council, and Michael Newport, Operational Manager for the Waste and Street Cleansing Contract, Westminster CC. "Contrary to the assertion in a recent national newspaper article that the streets of London's West End were "squalid", "dirty", "disgusting" and "decaying", we were impressed with the way Westminster, though by no means perfect, still manages to keep the major tourist and other high-profile areas sparkling," he added. "Oxford Street is probably the busiest shopping street in Britain, yet it managed to outshine all the others we visited."
The 'Britain's Cleanest City' title - and the trophy to go with it - was presented to the Deputy Lord Mayor of Westminster, Cllr Louise Hyams, by the Master of the Worshipful Company of Environmental Cleaners, Edward Daniell, accompanied by Brian Cole, Chairman of the British Cleaning Council, sponsors of the biennial award scheme, at a ceremony on the opening day of The Cleaning Show at the NEC in Birmingham.
Also present were Lord Mayors and other civic dignitaries from all the other ten shortlisted cities each of whom received a Certificate of Merit to mark their city's achievement in reaching the 2003 final.
Commenting after the ceremony, Cllr Hyams said: "I am delighted that all the hard work that goes into keeping a city the size of Westminster clean has been acknowledged with this award. Now, we intend to use it as a platform to build on and to continue to raise standards, as well as making sure that the guys at the sharp end are recognised for their contribution. Of course, we are also aware that there is a great need to educate the public to be cleaner in their habits. I am appalled that so much litter is dropped without thought throughout our city centres."
