Eltham High Street had its first pavement jet-wash today following the success of Conservative councillors' efforts to get the service re-instated.
The jet-washing service had been cut by Labour-run Greenwich Council, and Labour councillors voted against a Conservative proposal to re-instate the service last year - only to u-turn 12 months later following pressure from Conservative councillors and members of the public.
Jet-washing has now returned to the borough's town centres in this year's Council's budget. A new, fully-costed Conservative proposal to extend the service to cover eight of the borough's smaller communities (New Eltham, Middle Park, Mottingham, Eltham Park, Charlton, Blackheath Standard, East Greenwich and Thamesmead) was included in Opposition councillors' Alternative Budget in February - but this plan was also voted down by Labour councillors.
Speaking today after seeing the jet-washer in action, Eltham Conservative Councillor Pat Greenwell said: "I was pleased to see pavement jet-washing finally back in action on Eltham High Street today, after campaigning for its return for so long. Last year Greenwich Council voted against Conservative councillors’ proposal to re-introduce jet-washing - but a year later, they’ve now changed their mind and reversed this cut. As your local councillor I will keep campaigning for more to be done to keep our High Street clean.
Councillor Matt Hartley, Leader of the Conservative Opposition, added: "The jet-washing service should never have been cut - and I'm pleased Labour councillors have finally re-introduced it, as Conservative councillors have been campaigning for at the Town Hall. This joins the growing list of our Budget proposals that Labour vote down at the time, but then implement anyway. We will continue to lobby the Council to extend jet-washing to our borough's smaller communities - which are badly in need of some TLC too."
Read more about Labour's u-turn on jet-washing and read Conservative councillors' Alternative Budget proposals in full here.
