Council scraps plans to wash streets during next week's Big Clean

When The Big Clean was announced, the council's contribution to the five-day campaign was the one piece of it that no other partner could supply. Ipswich Central has no cleaning fleet. Ellisons is providing people and Vivo Clean is providing materials. The vehicles, the tanks, the pressure washers and the staff belong to the council, and it had committed to daily jet washing and street cleaning across the target areas for the duration of the week.

On Tuesday, 15 September, six days before the campaign was due to begin, that commitment was withdrawn.

What was promised, and what has gone

The areas that had been agreed for pressure washing were the high street corridor running from Norwich Road to Carr Street, and The Saints, The Walk, Buttermarket and Dial Lane – the stretches of the town centre that carry the heaviest footfall and, on the evidence of our own investigation last month, some of the worst of the accumulated grime. They are, to put it bluntly, in desperate need of a deep clean.

Those are now off the list.

‘Action not words’: Ipswich’s Big Clean starts on Monday

Businesses, residents, the council and police will spend five days scrubbing, sweeping, pressure washing and fining their way across Ipswich town centre from Monday. Ipswich Central, the town’s BID, says the campaign is about pride, not blame – but the real test is what happens next.

Ipswich.co.ukOliver Rouane-Williams

The council has confirmed that its waste and street cleaning teams will take part in the week, with litter picking and general tidying throughout – as it does ordinarily. There is no date for when the affected streets will now be pressure washed, and no commitment from the council that they will be.

The campaign itself proceeds as planned. Monday's litter picking, Tuesday's Business Pride Day, Thursday's Communi-TEA and Friday's standards walk all remain in the programme, as does the council's waste enforcement activity and Suffolk Police's work on street drinking and e-bikes.

But what has gone is the one element that would have made the most visible difference.

A ban that does not apply

The reason given is Anglian Water's Temporary Use Ban. But by the council's own admission and Anglian Water's guidance, the ban does not apply to councils and commercial organisations.

Anglian Water's restrictions on cleaning are framed purely around domestic use. Customers must not use a hosepipe to clean the outside of their home, or to clean "paths, patios, driveways or other hard surfaces around your home". In both cases the guidance sets out exceptions: cleaning "carried out by a business as part of a professional service", cleaning that "relates to public service, commercial or goods vehicles", and cleaning "carried out by a professional business as part of a commercial service".

The council does not dispute this. It confirmed to Ipswich.co.uk that it can pressure wash the streets, and that the decision not to is its own, taken on the basis of responsible use of water. Anglian Water has not advised the council against carrying out the work.

The council has also already said so publicly, in terms. On 27 August, asked why the Upper Brook Street clean had stopped and started, a spokesperson told this publication: "The Anglian Water Temporary Use Ban does not apply to local authority activity such as this. The Council is able to continue to undertake pavement cleaning during the period of the Anglian Water Temporary Use Ban."

Council U-turns on hosepipe ban explanation for street clean-up delay

Ipswich Borough Council has offered a different explanation for why street cleaning on Upper Brook Street paused for two days – dropping its earlier reference to the hosepipe ban in favour of “operational reasons,” despite initially saying the ban was behind the stop.

Ipswich.co.ukNicola Sebastian

In a statement to Ipswich.co.uk, the council said: "During the drought and Anglian Water Temporary Use Ban, the Council is able to continue to clean pavements where there is a health and safety concern, but has to use water responsibly. This means there will be no scheduled pressure washing of the public highway for reasons of appearance only."

Ipswich.co.uk has found no guidance from Anglian Water stating that cleaning may only be undertaken where there is a health or safety need. Nor, as a matter of law, does a Temporary Use Ban reach local authority work. The bans water companies may impose under the relevant legislation restrict the uses of water available to household customers. They do not apply to commercial businesses or to councils, and Anglian Water has not asked the council to hold off.

The council is entitled to use less water during a drought, and says it is doing so. But that is a choice the council has made rather than a restriction placed upon it.

On what will happen instead, the council said its "waste and street cleaning teams will be involved during The Big Clean, with litter picking and general tidy up all taking place throughout the event", and that it would "proactively support Ipswich Central during the event, or as required."

Put another way: it will do what it does ordinarily every day.

'No council can keep a town looking its best through public services alone'

Lee Walker, chief executive of Ipswich Central, has consistently framed The Big Clean as a shared undertaking rather than a criticism of the council.

"Ipswich belongs to all of us," he said when the campaign was announced. "The council and its partners provide essential cleaning and maintenance services, but no council can keep a town looking its best through public services alone. Businesses, residents, employees, property owners and visitors all shape the places we share."

"The Big Clean is not about assigning blame," he added. "It is about recognising our community responsibility and giving everyone a practical way to take pride in Ipswich."

In August, Walker told this publication that "the council doesn't drop litter – in many ways they work harder than anyone to clear it up", while also arguing that "if we don't get the basics and the standards right, we lose the right to do the exciting, fun things that encourage people to visit."

However, it will no doubt be disappointing to many that while the community rallies to improve Ipswich's town centre, its own council won't be delivering on its previous commitment to play its part.

The bottom line

The hosepipe ban does not stop Ipswich Borough Council pressure washing the town centre. The council has said so itself, and has confirmed again this week that the choice is its own.

So the question is not whether the council is allowed to wash the streets during The Big Clean. It is whether declining to do so is the right call. Some will back their decision; many won't.

Either way, on Friday, 25 September, businesses that have cleaned their own frontages and supported the Big Clean will step outside to admire their hard work...onto paving the council has decided not to touch.

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