Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Litter litter everywhere!
I find it extraordinarily frustrating that we as a destination Borough come under so much pressure as a result of the masses of litter left following the recent spell of hot weather. Residents quite fairly do not want to see their town strewn with detritus left by unconcerned visitors who presumable see it as their right to dump whatever they no longer need for Council to deal with. It is not the Council that creates litter but the assumption is it has to be part of the Council responsibility to clear areas leaving them pristine and ready for the next load of garbage to be dumped with casual indifference to the cost of cleaning up and leaving as residents want to see their ancient Borough. The cost of this added service is becoming prohibitive as it is starting to necessitate overtime working for council staff and all that means to the local ratepayer. In simple terms the more we spend of our diminishing income on litter clearance the less we have for other services, the resultant pressure on our budget is significant. So what is the answer? More litter bins mean more litter handlers, more patrols, more cost. so we are caught between a 'rock and a hard place' How about a 'take your litter home 'campaign at all locations where this problem is evident coincident with the removal of any rubbish receptacles? Ideas on a post card please!
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3 comments:
Dear Councillor Nottage.
I totally applaud your sentiments regarding the situation around the rubbish in Christchurch. This seems to be a universal theme. Only a while ago I commented to a shopkeeper in Lymington about that amount of rubbish left by the Street Traders within the Saturday Market, which was blowing down to the Lymington Quay. Only to be told “That’s why we pay our taxes, so why should we pick it up. It is this type of mentality that the councils are up against, when the shopkeepers who rely on local trade make these comments. I have seen store owners sweep their shops floors out into the road adding to the mess, when it would take only seconds to pick up.
A few of the very local residents of the Quay regularly meet for coffee. The main items discussed by the residents, is why event organizers aren’t held to account for the clear up of litter. Either by their own measures of rubbish removal or by a levy to the council to pay for the extra required facilities to action the clear up. They are benefiting financially by holding these events, so why cannot they contribute to the restoration of the area back to pristine condition. This in turn would benefit them by hopefully extra trade because of the improved vista, but would provide a mentality to others to take their own rubbish home.
Thanks for this Nick as you can imagine I am on your wavelength and yes we demand that organisers do contribute to the clear up after their events. Stanpit rec is pristine after the car boot sale and we try to instil a pride of place attitude to all organisers , it works sometimes!!!
I again visited the Quay this afternoon, only to find bags of rubbish placed by the side of the carpark where someone hadn't wanted to take the items home with them. The mad thing is, that a bin was only yards away. Walking across the carpark, a large group of German students were being loaded on their coaches, only to leave around 10 empty coke cans and half a dozen plastic bottles on the ground. After 5 requests. in the end in broken German they did pick up. It's a nightmare. It would be great if there was in some way that these individuals could be fined.
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