Why is everything so filthy?

[ekk100]

I feel like over the last few years I've been noticing public things just getting more and more dirty. Road signs, bins, railing etc all seem to be covered with this grey film/lichen. I see it all over the UK, so it's definitely not just my local area. Some friends and I were in Newcastle for a hen weekend recently and even the Millennium Bridge was in need of a clean. Is this just a budget cut thing and there used to be a hidden army of council workers cleaning things before? Or the result of more pollution/climate change? Or maybe just a big drive to upgrade things a few years back and it's all starting to look a bit tatty?

Councils haven’t got any money.

It's because we haven't invested in infrastructure for 15 years. Councils spend most of their money on social care. Government doesn't build anything outside London in central infra projects. Maintenance has been cut in half at least. If we don't build anything and we don't repair anything, the public realm falls apart.

https://www.local.gov.uk/about/campaigns/save-local-services/save-local-services-how-ps1-council-funding-spent

We have a team of lovely local volunteers who spend most Sunday mornings clearing litter from verges, notifying the council of fly-tipping and cleaning road signs. Without them our area would be a shit heap.

Lack of money. Deterioration of the UK economy.
It's visible nearly everywhere. You have to be living in a bubble to not have spotted the signs. 😪

Yes, we do this as well. Although in terms of actual rubbish I have to say our local area isn't particularly bad. It's more that I don't think I ever saw people cleaning the bins/road signs before the budget cuts. Was there a specific team that came round to do this? I actually know the person who used to be out local council road sweeper/litter picker and she mentioned it was never her job to clean those things. She only had one of those hand barrows, so no room for water anyway.

Budget cuts. Anything that doesn't absolutely need doing isn't done.

Also we've just had new litter bins installed so you've encouraged me to adopt my local bin. I'll go out every now and again and give it a clean.

Budget cuts - same reason many councils don’t sweep up leaves etc anymore

Lol, lichens are coming back because our air is less polluted now, less acid rain etc. By and large (and except on road signs) it's a good thing.

There's litter everywhere because people drop it. It doesn't fall from the sky.

'even the Millennium Bridge was in need of a clean'

They are JUST on cleaning the Tyne bridge, took decades of organizing and will take 4 years to do and has cost £41.5 million which had to be raised by government. Over 9 tonnes of bird shit was removed and birds are crapping on it again already (as they do).

These aren't small, cheap, easy jobs.

Yes. There used to be teams who cleaned road signs, bins and other stuff like that. They were got rid of in my authority around the time of Osborne’s austerity budget, the ‘do more with less’ one. When was that? Seven, eight years ago? Same restructure as they made the volunteer co-ordinator posts redundant. Non-statutory requirement so easy cut.

Low trust society, general breakdown of law and order.