Council considers publishing photos of litter offenders
A COMMUNITY dance charity is fundraising to open a new £2m centre on the site of a former Cardiff library.
Rubicon Dance says the new centre, which will be based on the site of the former Roath Library on Newport Road, will give it the extra and essential space it needs to get more people involved.
The charity, based on Nora Street, Adamsdown, was launched in 1976 and has grown massively since, with thousands of people attending a variety of classes each week.
Millie Bethel, 21, from Tredegar, is a creative intern working with the charity.
She said: “The new building will mean everything to us. Thousands of people attend the classes and we have helped people from all ages especially those who may have come from underprivileged backgrounds.
“It will mean we can grow bigger and provide more support to lots more communities. We chose the Roath Library because it is close to our home in Adamsdown and we didn’t want to move too far.
“We believe it is important the community that use us so much can still gain the benefits if we move to a new site.”
BRIDGEND County Council is considering publishing photos of people who drop litter if they fail to provide their correct name and address to enforcement officers.
The local authority’s head of operations for community services Zak Shell told councillors the option was available.
He said: “Enforcement officers wear body cams and the image could be published. Rhondda Cynon Taf council publishes photos of people who have committed offences asking ‘Who is this person?.’
“If somebody walks away and refuses to give their name and address we could do the same thing.
“Currently we are not at that stage and it is something that would require more consideration as there are other options out there.”
Sian Hooper, the council’s cleaner streets and waste contract manager, told councillors that enforcement officers were “very adept” at getting names and addresses of people who were caught dropping litter, adding
Rubicon recently acquired the building through a community asset transfer with the council.
The charity says the £2m fundraising target is high but it is hopeful of achieving it and has begun activities such as bake sales and sponsored walks.
A new campaign called The Forgotten Coin Fundraiser will be running until December 3.
Millie added: “We are collecting all types of coins, from euros to drachma, as well as old pounds and pennies.
“Any type of currency is welcome in the collection box.
“We have gone with this idea as a celebration of our diversity at Rubicon, and we aim to show people that something forgotten can be turned into something great.” it was an offence not to provide it to them when asked.
She said: “Enforcement officers have called in police officers to be with them in certain situations to enforce that they have a right to know someone’s name and address.”
In April, the local authority appointed the private company 3GS to patrol litter hotspots and issue fines where necessary.
From May to September, 3GS enforcement officers issued almost 400 fines, worth £25,000. The vast majority were to people dropping cigarettes.
The council said officers were building up a library of hotspots to target in the county, with one being the Elvis Festival in Porthcawl.
Since the end of August, 3GS has also been enforcing against dog fouling, fining people if they fail to pick up their dog’s mess or are unable to show that they have poo bags with them, or fail to put their pet on a lead when requested to do so by an enforcement officer.
The company replaced two officers undertaking the enforcement in September leading to a “short suspension” in patrols as new officers
Since September, Rubicon Dance has raised more than £6,000 and is looking to raise another £50,000 as soon as possible in order to start phase one of the building work.
If you would like to donate or help with fundraising, contact 029 2049 1477. were trained.
Mr Shell said there was an expectation that about 1,800 fines would be issued in a 12-month period.
He said: “We have a presence and a deterrent now that we simply didn’t have before with enforcement officers walking around the county.
“We would like to see more of it one of the down sides where we have a model reliant on self-funding is that you can’t dedicate too much time hoping to catch somebody out.”
The contract with 3GS is based on a “cost neutral” format, where the council doesn’t pay but the firm recovers its operating costs from the revenue generated through issuing fines and the payments received.
People can be fined £100 for dog fouling offences or for dropping litter.
People are given 28 days to pay the fine and, if no payment is made, they are issued with a reminder letter.
After that period, 3GS prepares a case file which is then submitted to the council’s legal department.
The latest figures show four people are currently being prosecuted for not paying their fines, with 70 cases pending prosecution.