Environment Minister Edwin Poots today invited members of the public to have their say on plans to improve the quality of their local environment.

The Minister was speaking as he launched a consultation on a draft Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill.

He said: "There is little doubt that local environmental quality issues such as litter, abandoned vehicles, dog fouling and fly-posting are major concerns for local residents which impact on the quality of life in our public places and local neighbourhoods. Neglect promotes further deterioration and this can lead to anti-social behaviour and higher levels of crime."

He added: "People want to live in neighbourhoods that are clean and safe. Our streets, parks, town squares and open spaces are great assets and places that form the heart of our communities. They are where people meet, where they travel to work, where they live and where our children play. They should be places of which we are all proud and which foster a sense of civic pride."

The proposed Bill contains provisions designed to improve the quality of the local environment by giving district councils additional powers, similar to their counterparts in England and Wales. These powers will enable them to deal more effectively with litter, nuisance alleys, fly-posting and graffiti, abandoned and nuisance vehicles, dogs, noise and other nuisance problems.

The Minister added: "It is now well understood that a cleaner neighbourhood is an integral part of ensuring a safer neighbourhood. We are proposing to help district councils to tackle problems at a local level more effectively by enabling them to address issues through more comprehensive and user friendly legislation and guidance."

Chief Executive, Ian Humphreys of TIDY NI said, "TIDY Northern Ireland is delighted to see this consultation taking place with a view to strengthening council powers to tackle the all-too-common anti-social behaviours and environmental crimes that we all observe on a daily basis. Far too many people think it's ok to drop litter, fly-tip, graffiti and fly-post and this legislation should help councils to change those people's behaviour for the benefit of us all."

The consultation can be viewed and downloaded from: http://www.doeni.gov.uk/clean_neighbourhoods.htm

The consultation runs until 23 April 2010.