Smokers show support for cigarette butt ballot bin

Wardens issue £60,000 in fines

A bin designed specifically for the disposal of cigarette butts, which cost the council nearly £200, has been removed from its initial location following a successful pilot scheme.

It is now planned to locate it somewhere else in the town centre.

The ‘Ballot Bin’ was placed in the Park Mall shopping centre back in October, but the bin was removed shortly after in November.

The bright yellow bin, which was erected on a signpost in Park Mall, provided smokers with two options to express their preference for either The X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing by dropping their cigarette end in either section.

The bin was bought for £195, but the council says it is now considering alternative locations for the bin following a ‘well supported’ scheme.

An Ashford Borough Council (ABC) spokesman said: “The council piloted the use of a new style cigarette bin, called a Ballot Bin [in 2016].

“It was trialled in Park Mall for several weeks to see how the public engaged with the bin’s voting system where you choose one of two receptacles to dispose your cigarette end in.

“The Ballot Bin was removed at the beginning of November and we are currently considering where it could be potentially used in future, for example at specific events.

“The intention was always to use it for a trial period to see whether or not the public would engage with this concept and then move it on.

No firm decision has been taken where it will go next or when.”

The bin scheme was first launched in 2015 by the environmental charity Hubbub Foundation as part of the Neat Streets campaign, and has since been adopted by other councils, including Swale last summer.

What do you think? Write to Kentish Express, 34-36 North Street, Ashford, TN24 8JR or email kentishexpress@thekmgroup.co.uk The pilot of the cigarette bin, which was installed by the council’s Town Centre Action Team, known as T-CAT, came as part of the council’s recent littering crackdown.

Litter wardens from private company Kingdom were introduced by the council in September to issue £75 on-the-spot fines to offenders purposely dropping litter, which caused a lot of controversy in the town.

In the first 10 working days of the scheme, Kingdom wardens dished out 195 of the fixed penalty notices.

The council will take £28.50 from each fine, while Kingdom will take £46.50.

Its effectiveness in the borough will be assessed after a 12-month trial period ends.

In the first four months of the scheme more than £60,000 worth of fines were issued by the wardens.

WHICH WAY? The cigarette ballot bin in Park Mal