Bring back bins
MORE EFFECTIVE ‘SUMMER STRATEGY’ NEEDED
NEWCASTLE parks chiefs have been urged to reinstate lost bins in the city’s green spaces after shocking litter scenes last week.
Spots like the Town Moor and Heaton Park were left looking like the aftermath of a music festival last Wednesday morning, after crowds flocked outside to enjoy the warm weather and left a mountain of rubbish behind.
Lib Dem opposition councillors have urged the city council and Urban Green Newcastle, the charity that now runs Newcastle’s parks, to reinstall axed bins to avoid a repeat of that tidal wave of litter during the summer.
In 2017, the council slashed the number of public litter bins across the city – removing 2,100 bins and replacing them with 800 supersized ‘smart’ models.
Coun Anita Lower, the Lib Dems’ neighbourhoods spokesperson, complained bins in parks are now “few and far between and are often overflowing”.
But the council says the installation of fewer, but larger bins had actually increased capacity in parks – though it agreed to extra bins and collections in parks during the Easter school holidays.
Coun Lower said: “At present, a significant burden is being put on the parks trust’s budget and on community volunteers who carry out clean-ups. No-one is condoning the recent anti-social behaviour in parks, and we agree people should be responsible and take litter home rather than leave it strewn all over the place.
“But we can’t help feeling that the council’s decision to remove many bins from parks in recent years has contributed to the problems we’ve seen in the past week.
“It should not be beyond the ability of the council and parks trust to arrange for large wheeled dumpster bins or even skips to be on site during sunny summer weekends and bank holidays when large numbers are expected.
“A more effective summer strategy is needed.”
A council spokesperson said that responses to the mess caused as lockdown restrictions have eased include rolling out 20 more 360-litre wheelie bins to areas that had seen particularly large amounts of litter, adding that the authority issued more than 500 waste-related fines last year.
They said: “Going forward we are meeting with Urban Green next week to discuss a different approach to managing litter in parks over the summer.
“However, the public should understand that in many areas larger bins are not appropriate, as we cannot empty them effectively, and with an increase in bin fires in parks, likely due to people incorrectly disposing of disposable barbecues, a skip, which could result in a far larger blaze, is not an option.
“We are doing what we can to tackle this problem, but litter is a matter of personal responsibility, and it is up to everyone to use the bins provided and if one is full, find another or take your rubbish home.”
Barbara Hooper, director of parks and allotments at Urban Green Newcastle, said that last week’s “upsetting” litter scenes were a nationwide societal problem and that installing extra bins is “unlikely to solve the problem”.
She added: “We’re in discussion with Newcastle City Council and other regional partners about a joint campaign to address the problem of littering and antisocial behaviour in our parks, particularly during the spring and summer months.”