News / Bristol Waste
Problems persist on Fix My Street
Users of the Fix My Street app and website have complained of persistent problems when filing reports.
Claims were only made on March 10 to say that fly-tipping, graffiti and broken street lights should be cleared or fixed much quicker due to a major upgrade to the app’s system.
But concerns from resident’s suggest otherwise.
is needed now More than ever
Abandoned wooden planks were reported and then the case closed
Residents who have filed legitimate concerns such as dumped mattresses, broken glass, dog mess and bags of rubbish strewn in streets and outside parks, have had their cases closed, but the reason for that has left residents even more frustrated.
Several of the cases that have been closed have received the following explanation: ‘Our team has investigated and found that resolving this issue does not fall under the responsibility of Bristol Waste, or we are unable to address this problem for health and safety reasons at this time.’
Multiple users of the app and website say they have had to file reports several times in an attempt to get their streets cleared.
Bags of rubbish dumped on Churchill Road, reported on Wednesday and closed as it ‘does not fall under the responsibility of Bristol Waste’ (report number 7377849) – photo: anonymous report on Fix My Street website
Stephen Gradwell, a resident of Hengrove has reported several different cases on the Fix My Street app.
On one report made on January 16 he explains how a 6ft wooden fence which had been destroyed in bad winds, causing it to obstruct a pathway. It has not been dealt with since being reported.
He spoke to Bristol24/7 and said: “I’m totally appreciative that the council is trying to do more with less.
“But this is about transparency.
“They’re leaving our communities in a more dangerous state.”
Stephen Gradwell has made several reports, one of those include a street that is strewn with rubbish such as NOS canisters – image: Fix My Street app
People can check on the app and on the website where in Bristol cases have been reported, but some people’s reports cannot be found for some unknown reason making it difficult to ascertain just how many cases have been closed and for what reason.
One user of Next Door app, Lisa, took to the forum to complain of a fridgefreezer report being closed for the same reason.
Councillor Martin Fodor, chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee, said: “Since we upgraded FixMyStreet in February to integrate with council and waste company systems we have received over 3,000 reports of street scene issues such as litter and graffiti, and over 1,800 of these reports relate to fly tipping.
“Alongside handling this increase in the number of reports we’re also improving the detail in the updates people receive via FixMyStreet.
“For example, being able to state when we can’t find a fly-tip or if the issue needs to be dealt with by another team or authority to resolve. We are aware that people are receiving a generic message stating their report has been closed when in fact this might not be the case.
“We’d like to thank everyone for reporting the issues on our streets and helping to improve the cleanliness of the city and we encourage residents to continue to use FixMyStreet to do this.
“However, the increase in the number of reports we’re receiving does mean it may take longer than anticipated to resolve street cleansing issue, so please bear with us.
“We’re working with the developer of FixMyStreet, Bristol Waste Company and council teams to continuously improve the new software and how the teams work with it to ensure the right actions are taken by the right teams and we communicate more clearly what action has been taken with people making the reports.
“We are also making further improvements to ensure jobs are directly assigned to those who are responsible for resolving the issue, this includes Bristol Waste, the council’s Parks teams and other landowners, and this information is reflected on FixMyStreet.”
Main photo: Stephen Gradwell
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