MORE people responded to a commission on Croydon North's dirty streets than to an independent panel on the riots in 2011.
The issue of fly-tipping is key to that and has become arguably the biggest gripe for residents living in the area.
I met Cllr Simon Hoar, cabinet member for community safety and public protection, at Thornton Heath station last Wednesday evening (February 12) to see first-hand a crackdown on one of the borough's biggest fly-tip hotspots, with more than 30 enforcement officers stationed in vans or on the prowl.
The first thing to note is that the streets of Thornton Heath seem, to be polite, a bit of a dumping ground.
There are piles of rubbish overflowing from bins outside properties, the odd binbag here and there, as well as boxes of rubbish left next to lampposts and outside businesses.
A major problem which the council is trying to address, Cllr Hoar tells me, is a lack of awareness.
"We are trying to clean up as much as we can, but if people are not made aware and warned of the punishments, then they will keep doing it," he said.
It is this issue that poses the biggest question: should the council be doing more to clean it up, or should people just not be doing it in the first place?
We meet Maggie Peel-Boyce, an enforcement officer, who is taking a team of officers round businesses asking to see their trade waste agreements.
The agreements are mandatory for every business but, she admits, many firms in the area she had already checked with do not have them.
But although they will eventually be served with notices if they do not comply, tonight the officers are just giving the owners forms and telling them someone will be round to visit in the next week to take them through the next step.
On the issue of fly-tipping by residents, Maggie thinks there has to be a culture change.
"A lot of people have been doing it for so long that they don't know it's wrong anymore," she said.
Cllr Hoar takes me to a property where the bins are over-flowing and there is sliced bread becoming soggy in the rain.
He said it was frustrating because, as the bins are within the property, the council has to work with the landlord to make sure the problems are sorted.
Cllr Hoar said: "Many landlords are good and work with us, but this one was ok until recently. It could be that the tenants have gone back to their old ways or that new ones have moved in.
"I find it depressing. It is not hard. I can put my rubbish out at night in the right place. It is about habit-forming."
The area we cover on the walkabout is a busy, relatively well-lit area, but the problems the council faces are compounded by the amount of fly-tipping in quiet residential streets.
One thing that is noticeable in Thornton Heath High Street is that there are almost no public bins to be seen.
I walked a couple of minutes either side of Thornton Heath Station to try and find somewhere to put my rubbish but didn't find a bin, so put it in my pocket and waited until I got to East Croydon.
Another problem for the council appears to be the lack of punishment for offenders.
The Advertiser has previously reported how, in 2012-13, there were zero prosecutions for fly-tipping – despite 11,150 reported instances.
Thornton Heath is Croydon's worst fly-tipping hotspot, with 1,468 reported instances in 2013.
Woodside (1,263) and West Thornton (1,103) come next.
Tough on filth and the causes of filth EARLIER this month, the Croydon North Streets Independent Commission put forward 19 recommendations. The independent body was set up by Croydon North MP Steve Reed in response to widespread concerns over fly-tipping, rubbish and enforcement. Recommendations included providing larger communal bins for highly-populated areas, increasing the amount of public litter bins, and stronger enforcement action against fly-tippers. In response, council leader Mike Fisher sought to reiterate his authority's tough stance on rubbish. He said: "We spend millions of pounds every year on sweeping the borough's streets, removing litter and picking up rubbish."