THE ABC OF PUBLIC FACILITIES AND MAINTENANCE 1 CONTENTS PUBLIC FACILITIES AND PUBLIC FACILITIES AND MAINTENANCE MAINTENANCE ............................................... 3 GREEN SPACES ................................................. 4 The Tallinn City Environment Department CLEAN BACKYARDS ...................................... 7 has prepared “The ABC of Public Facilities PUBLIC PLAYGROUNDS ............................... 8 and Maintenance” in order to create a single CEMETERIES .................................................. 10 comprehensive source of information about BIRDS AND WILD ANIMALS ..................... 12 public facilities and maintenance. Feeding birds ..................................................................12 Wild animals in the city ................................................14 The brochure provides information about land- PETS .................................................................... 16 scaping and neighbourhood maintenance; Dog-walking ...................................................................16 tips about the use and maintenance of mu- Chips and registration of dogs ....................................17 nicipal green spaces, playgrounds, dog-walk- Cats and dogs must be sterilised! ................................20 ing grounds, and cemeteries etc. Among other What to do with stray cats? ..........................................20 Lost and found pets ......................................................21 things, the brochure includes contact informa- Help stray animals ........................................................22 tion for people who have any questions about WASTE ............................................................... 23 public facilities and maintenance. Residents can Waste paper ....................................................................23 also call the City’s helpline 1345 (regular call Packaging waste ............................................................23 rates apply) and can find the necessary infor- Containers with a refundable deposit ........................25 mation on Tallinn’s website at www.tallinn.ee/ Biodegradable waste .....................................................25 heakord. Hazardous waste ............................................................26 Old or broken home appliances ..................................28 Used tyres .......................................................................29 Pursuant to the regulations governing public Used furniture, home appliances, facilities and maintenance, all property own- clothing, books, etc. ......................................................29 ers are required to: Transfer stations ............................................................30 z Ensure the maintenance of their property Waste collected for a charge ........................................31 and its boundary fence; Did you know that ... .....................................................32 z MAKING A FIRE AND BARBECUING ..... 33 Carry out the maintenance of the area adja- REPORT A PROBLEM ................................... 35 cent to the property; z CONTACT INFORMATION ........................ 35 Apply for a tree removal permit before cut- ting down trees on their property (except fruit trees). 2 3 GREEN SPACES People tend to take it for granted that their city has parks and lawns. And given the fast pace of life, people probably do not think about public green spaces every day. One of the aims of these green areas is to provide citizens with different recreation options, including the possibility to spend time in fresh air. z Fruiting bodies of fungi have grown on the tree trunk or branch stubs; Whenever landscaping is done or trees and z The tree has rapidly tilted and the root ball shrubs are planted on public municipal land, has risen out of the soil on the other side; it must be done in accordance with the general z There are cracks or splits in the tree trunk or design principles. Therefore, all the related ac- between tree limbs. tivities must be approved by the property own- er, the city district government, and the Tallinn If you detect one or several of the above prob- City Environment Department. Also, you need lems, it is high time to contact the landscaping to obtain prior approval for the replanting of specialists at the Tallinn City Environment De- any trees with a breast-height diameter bigger partment to get their professional opinion. than 8 cm (except for fruit trees growing on pri- vate property). If the tree does not have the aforementioned problems, but has not been pruned for a long Anyone can help to maintain green areas in a time and the branches push against windows or good condition. For example, deterioration in walls, you must apply for a pruning permit from tree health can be avoided by timely and appro- the Tallinn City Environment Department. priate pruning. Also, it is not recommended to The best time for tree pruning is before the tree park cars close to tree trunks as cars cause ar- grows leaves or in mid-summer in exceptional tificial compaction of the soil and burden the cases. Pruning is prohibited during the periods roots, making it more difficult for trees to ob- when sap is running, the buds are bursting or tain water and air from the soil. leaves are growing. Also, it is not recommend- ed to do pruning in the autumn when trees are The main safety risks requiring specialist help preparing for the winter. Pruning trees at an un- are: suitable time causes additional stress for trees z There are many dry branches in the tree which they might not be able to handle, and as a crown or the treetop has dried out; result the tree may get a disease or dry out. 4 5 Special consideration must be given to trees that grow on planned construction sites. In CLEAN BACKYARDS many cases, the trees are healthy and, as a rule, In 2006, the Tallinn City Government adopt- the City will not grant a tree removal permit. ed a regulation whereby the City supports To compensate the value of healthy trees, the apartment associations in backyard clean-up. City of Tallinn has adopted a replacement tree policy which requires the person applying for a The aim is to make the living environment tree removal permit to submit a letter of guar- in the city more attractive and improve antee to the Tallinn City Environment Depart- the appearance of neighbour- ment, and provides for the planting and main- hoods with the active tenance of new (replacement) trees within two participation of the years. local residents. For more information about apply- An apartment ing for tree removal and pruning per- association in mits, please visit the relevant website Tallinn is eli- at www.tallinn.ee/Raieluba or con- gible to apply tact the landscaping office of the Tal- for the grant linn City Environment Department at if it has been 640 4274. registered in the register of If you have any landscaping-related non-profit as- questions, please call the landscaping sociations and specialist of your city district or the land- foundations at scaping office of the Tallinn City Environ- least six months be- ment Department (See the contact details at fore filing the grant ap- the end of the brochure). If you notice any ille- plication. For example, the gal tree removal or acts of vandalism (people City supports the creation of various recre- stealing flowers, breaking the branches of trees ational areas, car parks, etc. For more informa- or shrubs etc.), please call the City’s helpline tion about the project, please visit hoovidkor- 1345, or the Tallinn Municipal Police Depart- da.tallinn.ee, or contact your city district gov- ment’s duty officer at the 24/7 hotline 14 410. ernment or the Tallinn Municipal Engineering Department. 6 7 development of playgrounds. The plan defines PUBLIC PLAYGROUNDS the principles underlying the construction and maintenance of all future playgrounds on mu- A network of contemporary playgrounds is nicipal land. an essential element of a modern living envi- ronment as it supports the health and safe de- A big problem for playgrounds is vandalism and velopment of children and adults alike. inappropriate use. Thus, we ask everyone to pay more attention to the use of playgrounds. Play- There are about 600 playgrounds on grounds are often located in the space between Tallinn’s administrative territory, large blocks of flats, making the playground ac- with about 342 of these in pub- tivities easily visible to everyone. Neigh- lic use. The remaining play- bourhood watch can offer signif- grounds are either private- icant help, because the City’s ly-owned or located on the money is our shared money, premises of educational in- and the facilities built with stitutions. The playground this money need similar structures are intend- care and safeguarding. ed for people in differ- ent age groups; there- Please report any fore, it is important acts of vandalism for everyone to make to the police, or call sure that the particular the City’s helpline at playground structure is 1345. If you discover suitable for them before a broken playground using it. structure, please notify the authorities using the The Tallinn City Environ- phone number specified ment Department organis- on the information stand es the technical maintenance of at the playground, or call the public playgrounds, and city dis- City’s helpline at 1345. trict governments are responsible for public maintenance. For the locations of the playgrounds, the action plan and other related information, please vis- The Tallinn