Litter - A clean sweep

[megilleland]

In the Hereford Times today:
 

Quote

Campaign hopes to tackle litter by making it socially unacceptable

MORE than £1m of taxpayers' money is spent on collecting litter and emptying bins but a group of like-minded campaigners want to change this.

The first Herefordshire Litter Forum was held this week and brought together more than 40 pro-active litter picking groups, businesses and organisations

The Stop the Drop Litter Pledge campaign was launched which aims to get at least 100 pledges from individuals, community groups, businesses and schools to organise litter picks around their premises and to promote measures to stop litter being dropped in the first place.

Cllr Barry Durkin, Herefordshire's Council's cabinet member for transport and regulatory services, said at the forum: "It is not a one-off. I want this to be a collaboration and a movement forward and spread it into the community.

"We spend £1m of council taxpayers' money picking up litter and emptying bins which could be spent elsewhere."

Cllr Elissa Swinglehurst has pushed for the council to write to central government to propose a tax on fast food (take away) outlets, confectionary and crisp manufacturers, alcohol and soft drink companies and tobacco companies since these are the main items which are littered. She said the money can then be used to clean and tidy the streets and countryside.

Jane Denny, from Herefordshire Council's Stop the Drop campaign, said the council is aiming to address the problem of littering by educating the public.

She said: "We need to generate a culture where it is not acceptable to drop litter."

She has spoken to 59 assemblies across the county and reached 10,000 young people.

Wendy Harvey regularly carries out litter picks in Grafton Lane. She said: "I have always been amazed at the amount of litter. I can't understand how people do it so regularly when it just makes such a blight everywhere for everybody else."

She said communities are getting fed up of seeing so much litter and groups across the county need to join forces so they do not feel alone in fighting the problem.

Ms Harvey said they need to make dropping litter as socially unacceptable as drink drinking and not picking up dog mess.

Emma Jones from the Hereford Community Clean Up Group spoke about their work around the city. The group regularly goes out and carries out litter picks: they are all volunteers.

Linzy Outrim, from Balfour Beatty Living Places, said Cusop Parish Council agreed to have their litter bins removed which actually reduced the amount of litter as she said people took their litter home with them.

Dave Hough, from the council's community protection team, explained how littering is a criminal offence and there are four enforcement officers. People who drop litter can be fined £80. Officers need to observe the litter being dropped or have credible eye witness accounts. Since April 2017, 37 fixed penalty notices have been issued for littering.

You can plan your own litter pick. To borrow a litter pack call 01432 261800. Go to herefordshire.gov.uk/stopthedrop to find out litter picks in your area and to sign up to the pledge or call 01432 383449.

 

I hope they have moved those bins in Cusop to a more deserving area.

[Ubique]

Cllr Durkin states that the Council spend £1 million ( I presume a year ) picking up litter and emptying bins .

That appears to be an awful lot of money , not in my opinion well spent because wherever one goes in the High Town area there is loads of litter lying around going on from that I suggest that if there weren't any litter bins the problem would be worse .

I accept fully that there is a litter problem in the City , part of the problem might be bad management of the litter puckers and the bin emptiers.

My Parish , Burghill have organised litter collections annually for over 5 years involving the Parishioners , works very well to my mind.

[megilleland]

A lot of litter can be seen from the comfort of your motor car. The A465 Hereford to Abergavenny road is a scenic delight with scatterings of rubbish awaiting to be shredded into a million pieces by the spring mowers. At present there is a litter overflow in the lay-by just after the Cosy Toes Kennels. It has to be seen to realise the lack of education and responsibilty that creates this mess. The catchline "Don't be a Tosser" apt for many motorists who think it is ok to jetison unwanted items through their window. When the bypass is built we will have an extension of this problem blighting the Herefordshire countryside.

[ragwert]

A lot of litter can be seen from the comfort of your motor car. The A465 Hereford to Abergavenny road is a scenic delight with scatterings of rubbish awaiting to be shredded into a million pieces by the spring mowers. At present there is a litter overflow in the lay-by just after the Cosy Toes Kennels. It has to be seen to realise the lack of education and responsibilty that creates this mess. The catchline "Don't be a Tosser" apt for many motorists who think it is ok to jetison unwanted items through their window. When the bypass is built we will have an extension of this problem blighting the Herefordshire countryside.

I was about to say exactly the same thing with regards to the unbelievable amount of litter along the A465.

The shear amount of litter from the Rotherwas link Road to top of hill by old ambulance station is appalling.

[megilleland]

From Sunday Express 1st April 2018

Litter and you’ll be in another fine mess: Penalties for litter louts increase to £150

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LITTER louts face spot-fines of up to £150 from today, including motorists throwing rubbish from their vehicles. The crackdown will see the maximum penalty almost double from £80 and the sanction extended to car owners for the first time.

Environment Minister Therese Coffey said the tougher levy was aimed at tackling the “scourge” of litter that costs taxpayers millions to clean up.

In unveiling the beefed-up power for councils, the Government stressed it must not be abused and that authorities should take into account local circumstances, such as ability to pay, when setting the penalty level.

The change follows a public consultation which showed nearly 90 per cent support.

The cost to councils of cleaning the nation’s streets was almost £700million last year.

Ms Coffey said: “These new fines will tackle antisocial behaviour by hitting litter louts in the pocket, whether it’s litter that is thrown from a vehicle or dropped in the street.

“Litter is a scourge on our environment and we waste taxpayers’ money cleaning it up – funds which could be better spent in the community.

“We want to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state than we found it and I encourage everyone to take responsibility for their litter and recycle more.”

Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “There is no excuse for car litter louts. Tossing rubbish from vehicles spoils the environment, costs millions and puts road workers’ lives at risk when they have to clear up.

“Most of our members support higher fines and we welcome these steps to tackle this unnecessary problem.”

 

Let's hope those tossers read this.

[Colin James]

All the roads have litter on them, it is a disgrace, I agree that bigger fines is a good idea providing they start to prosecute the idiots.

[megilleland]

On 01/04/2018 at 23:00, Colin James said:

All the roads have litter on them, it is a disgrace, I agree that bigger fines is a good idea providing they start to prosecute the idiots.

I have been travelling from Hereford to Bristol daily by car and the amount of litter alongside the highway edges beggars belief - is no one going to pick it up? My route takes me along the A465, A49, A4137, A40, A449, M4 and M32. I also travel down the Wye Valley on A466 and M48. As mentioned every year these routes are gateways for tourists to our English and Welsh countryside and to be greeted by the amount of waste and debris shows a complete lack of respect for it. Once again the verges will be cut and all this litter shredded into the environment to save time and laziness. Parish councils where these roads pass through should try and organise a litter pick to shame those local authorities who appear to do nothing. Obviously the public cannot clear the motorways, so cone off the inside lane until its tidied up. Once the motoring public realise their action of chucking their waste out of the car window and dumping items in lay-bys delays them maybe they will take their litter home - but I doubt it.