The City of Melbourne is undertaking a citywide cleaning blitz to improve the cleanliness of the city and bolster community confidence to help combat the COVID-19 virus.
Cleaning services are being ramped up across the city, with a focus on sanitisation, cleaning surfaces that are touched often, removing litter and increasing street sweeping.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said ensuring city cleanliness is a key priority for Council during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“This is a crucial time to maintain cleanliness both for public health and public confidence. Extra cleaning regimes will help reduce the risk of the virus spreading,” the Lord Mayor said.
“We’re making sure Melbourne is thoroughly cleaned, and to ensure we’re focussing on priority areas.”
Some examples of additional cleaning activities include:
- Increased frequency of high pressure cleans of street furniture;
- Installation of new soap dispensers in toilet blocks in Melbourne’s busiest parks;
- Increased frequency of cleaning of public toilet blocks;
- Deep cleaning of priority park assets – including drinking fountains, high pressure washing of toilets, bin surrounds and barbeques.
The Lord Mayor said the City of Melbourne is conscious of community concerns during this time.
“This is a challenging time for everybody. Now more than ever it’s important that we get the essential services right,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Not only will we be undertaking more work to help keep our streets clean, additional cleaning and sanitisation is a very practical way for the City of Melbourne to respond to this challenge and improve health and wellbeing.”
The City of Melbourne currently invests $13.6 million a year in cleaning contracts and almost $1 million in graffiti removal.
Members of the public can report cleanliness issues via the City of Melbourne website.
