Residents who fear their concerns are not being addressed by the right people at Newham Council can now use a new app to report grime and crime.
The app, called Love Newham, has been launched to make it easier for residents to report environmental issues to the council.
It can be downloaded onto any mobile smartphone or tablet and ensures complaints go directly to the right department within the council to deal with.
Cllr Unmesh Desai and Cllr Forhad Hussain met members of the First Avenue Urban Wilderness Community Garden in Plaistow who piloted the app to support the work they are doing to improve their area.
The group was supported by the council to turn a disused piece of land which was a magnet for fly tipping into a community space. The site now houses a picnic area, raised growing beds, a small children’s play area, woodland space and pond and dog exercise area.
The group and their neighbours have been using the Love Newham app to instantly report environmental issues to the council and further improve their area.
Jacquie Pringle, chair of the First Avenue Urban Wilderness Community Garden has lived in Plaistow for 18 years, said: “We had a problem with fly tipping. Our road is quite quiet so we used to get a lot of industrial rubbish dumped from vehicles. One day I noted a description of one of the vans and the number plate and reported it to the council, who took action.”
Residents can report environmental crimes such as graffiti and fly-tipping in less than 60 seconds by taking a photo, adding some brief details and submitting this via the mobile app, interactive website or by SMS text.
The reports once uploaded are displayed on the council’s website. Residents can then track the progress of their reports and staff, once they’ve cleaned up the site, can upload another photo to show the work has been completed.
The app has supported the residents’ new Neighbourhood Watch Group, as they are able to report issues of anti-social behaviour to the council who investigate and take enforcement action where possible.
Councillor Unmesh Desai; said: “Our residents have said that having a clean borough is important to them, we’re doing our bit by investing in keeping our streets cleaner for longer and taking action against the small minority of people who litter and fly-tip.
“We want our residents to work with us and report issues so we can target our resources effectively and hopefully put an end to them for good.”
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