Hartlepool’s “Week of Action”: A Fresh Coat of Paint on a Tired Canvas...
- HBC Exposed
- Mar 5
- 4 min read
Hartlepool Borough Council lays out its week of action to tackle the towns 'grot spots'.... However many locals feel this is a publicity stunt, aiming to gloss over a decades worth of run down council services...
5th March 2025
This week, Hartlepool Borough Council rolled out a press release trumpeting a multi-agency “week of action” in the towns Burn Valley ward, promising to tackle anti-social behaviour, littering, dog fouling, and fly-tipping.
Partnering with the usual suspects like Cleveland Police, the fire brigade, housing groups, and the usual local community outfits, Hartlepool Borough Council claims this initiative will “improve residents’ lives and boost their sense of belonging.” Councillor Brenda Harrison, the council's Labour leader, has pitched it as a noble crusade to address residents’ long standing concerns and restore pride in the town.
On the surface, it sounds like a commendable effort. Dig a little deeper, though, and it starts to look like a reheated dish from a menu we’ve seen once before—specifically, one served up over two decades ago by former Hartlepool Mayor Stuart Drummond under the banner of “Operation Clean Sweep.”
For those of you who don’t recall, Operation Clean Sweep was launched in December 2003 with much of the same fanfare. Back then, Drummond’s council promised a week-long blitz in target wards to spruce up areas like Greatham village, tackling everything from horticultural upkeep to streetlight repainting.
The goal? Make Hartlepool shine for the Britain in Bloom judges and, presumably, its residents. Fast forward to 2025, and here we are again: another “week of action” targeting litter and anti-social behaviour, rolled out ward by ward, with the towns Victoria ward next in line from March 10th-14th.
The parallels are striking—almost suspiciously so. It’s hard not to wonder if the council’s merely dusting off an old playbook, recycling initiatives that sound good on paper but raise uncomfortable questions about why they’re needed in the first place.
Let’s be blunt: if Hartlepool’s wards are in such a state that they require these dramatic, multi-agency interventions, what does that say about the council’s stewardship over the past decade? Burn Valley isn’t some sudden hotspot of decline; issues like fly-tipping and litter don’t materialize overnight. They fester when council services erode, when bins aren’t emptied often enough, when enforcement slips, and when budgets are slashed to the bone. The council’s proud announcement of this so called “targeted work” feels less like a proactive triumph and more like a clandestine admission of failure.
Why are we still having to “boost residents’ sense of belonging” here now in 2025?
Shouldn’t that be the baseline of a local governance, not a special event?
Operation Clean Sweep, for all its horticultural flair...... & even.... its success, was itself a reaction to neglect—a Band-Aid effectively on a wound that shouldn’t have been allowed to open. Today's “week of action” follows the very same same script: a short, sharp burst of activity seemingly to paper over years of chronic underfunding and council mismanagement. The council’s press release really does lean heavily on feel-good buzzwords—“pride,” “safety,” “feelgood factor”—but offers little reflection on the reasons as to why things have got this bad in the first place. Partnering with everyone from Thirteen Group to Hartlepool Sixth Form College might make for a snappy photo opportunity, but it doesn’t address the root cause: a decades worth of austerity and service decline that’s left Hartlepool’s streets and communities in desperate need of more than a weekly spruce-up.
And here’s the kicker: these initiatives aren’t cheap either. Coordinating Cleveland 'Kangaroo' police, The fire service, housing groups, and volunteers takes resources—resources that could’ve been invested in consistent, day-to-day maintenance rather than just theatrical clean-ups. Residents might feel a fleeting “feelgood factor” when the litter’s gone and the dog mess is cleared, but what happens when the circus leaves town? Without sustained investment, Burn Valley and Victoria wards will likely slide back into the same mess, waiting for the next “week of action” to roll around. It’s a cycle of neglect and redemption that’s as predictable as it is frustrating.
Councillor Harrison’s call for residents to “support us by telling locals about the issues” is almost laughable in its irony. Hartlepool’s people have been vocal about fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour for years—check any local Facebook group or X thread if you doubt it, as a matter of fact, one particular social media Group highlighting the towns 'grot spots' upset Hartlepool Borough Council so badly, they dusted off HBC's musty old solicitors to threaten the groups admin to take it down !
Needless to say, the admins didn't capitulate, & the site is still running today....
Recycling 'Operation Clean Sweep' under a new name doesn’t absolve the fact that these problems shouldn’t be this entrenched. If council services hadn’t been run into the ground over the last decade—through cuts, mismanagement, or both—would we even need these flashy interventions?
The sad truth is that Hartlepool deserves better than sporadic bursts of civic resuscitation. A council serious about pride and belonging wouldn’t be leaning on old tricks going all the way back to 2003 or banking on goodwill from overstretched partners. It would be building a system where litter, fouling, and fly-tipping are managed daily through effective management, enforcement & education, not swept under the rug until a press release demands action.
Until then, this “week of action” really is just that—a week. And when the dust settles, Hartlepool’s residents will still be living with the dog sh!te on the streets & the consequences of a council that’s more comfortable rehashing the past than actually fixing the present.
