Call to raise litter penalty to £100
JACK THOMSON LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER
He added: “It could be £1,000 but the problem is catching someone in the act.
“I don’t think we should stop at £100. If there’s other things we can do, we should be doing it.
“It’s a problem everywhere. Along the roads people are throwing rubbish out of car windows. You go to car parks and see rubbish at the side of cars.”
A total of £2.5 million has been invested in Renfrewshire Council’s Team Up to Clean Up campaign over a five-year period, which has increased the area’s gully cleaning and mechanical road sweeping.
It has also challenged volunteers to play their party, with hundreds of community clean-ups taking place.
Councillor MacLaren believes a tougher stance on littering would only help the campaign in its bid to make Renfrewshire cleaner.
He said: “It’s all very well having willing volunteers out picking up litter but it’s unfortunate that this has to take place. It would be much better if people didn’t drop litter.”
More than 50 tonnes of litter has been collected from Renfrewshire’s roadside in the past six months, following the introduction of the council’s dedicated Rapid Response Team.
The team tackles roads identified as hot spots and works to remove rubbish, as well as acting as a visible deterrent to motorists considering littering in the first place.
Councillor Cathy McEwan, convener of Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board, previously fired a warning to road users.
She said: “I can’t stress how important it is that motorists think before throwing their rubbish out their window and onto the roadside.
“It is affecting the cleanliness, appearance and health of our local environment, as well as forcing our road workers to work at the side of busy roads to clear it.
“It may only be one piece of litter to you but when everyone does it, it can become a real problem and it is not acceptable.”