The most frequent requests for help I receive are from residents who want to see Tooting High Street and neighbouring roads tidied up and improved for pedestrians. The most common complaints relate to:
- rubbish and flytipping
- encroachment onto the pavement by some of the traders
- unecessary street clutter - phone boxes, excess signange, poorly positioned A-boards, etc - blocking the pavement.
Tooting High Street is jointly maintained by Transport for London (TfL) and Wandsworth Council, which makes enforecment harder to arrange, but over time I have sent in many photos of the problems reported by residents and the authorities have increasingly taken action. Some of these changes you can read about in my previous related article.
This week I have once again been out on Tooting High Street reporting problem areas to the authorities, who today took further action on these points. I've uploaded some of the photos showing these problems and posted them above, and I'm pleased to say that many of them are now resolved.
I feel that over time Tooting High Street has become a little less rubbish-strewn and the pavements a little clearer, which shows that enforcement action can be effective. However, this is a long-term project and new trouble spots will continue to arise, so please email me at [email protected] if you wish to report an issue and I will be happy to help.