‘Litter louts’ could face fines of £150
Don’t blame councils for litter
A crackdown could see “litter louts” face fines of up to £150 if they are caught dropping rubbish amid calls to tackle rubbish blighting popular destinations.
The measures are part of the first national litter strategy aimed at reducing the £800m annual bill to taxpayers of cleaning up rubbish.
“Litter is something that affects us all” Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom
A GOVERNMENT crackdown could see “litter louts” face fines of up to £150 if they are caught dropping rubbish amid calls to tackle rubbish blighting some of Yorkshire’s most popular destinations.
The tough new measures are part of the first national litter strategy aimed at reducing the near £800m annual bill to taxpayers of cleaning up after people who dump litter on the streets.
Currently fines are set by local councils and range from £50 to £80. Car owners would also have to pay penalty notices of £75 if rubbish was thrown out of their vehicle by a passenger.
Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom said: “Litter is something that affects us all, blighting our countryside, harming our wildlife, polluting our seas, spoiling our towns and giving visitors a poor impression of our country.
“Our litter strategy will tackle this antisocial behaviour by building an anti-litter culture; making it easier for people to dispose of rubbish and hitting litter louts in the pocket.”
It comes amid public outrage after some of Yorkshire’s most prized landscapes were left strewn with litter following the warm weather at the weekend. Scarborough Lifeboat crew member Carl Walsh is calling for tougher measures to be put in place to tackle the problem. After returning from a call-out, Mr Walsh noticed the beach was covered in an “unbelievable” amount of litter which had been left behind by visitors.
The surf instructor has raised the issue with Scarborough Council and has called for the authority to “start enforcing the law”, by handing out more fines to people caught littering.
He said: “I spend a lot of time at the beach and always see rubbish about, but this weekend it was absolutely unbelievable. I think what the council needs to do now is start enforcing the law. If you park your car on double yellow lines you are going to get a ticket, if you are walking down the street and you chuck rubbish everywhere, it’s pretty likely nothing is going to happen at all.”
Coun David Jeffels, a former Mayor of Scarborough, said while the authority had the power to impose fines, it could send out the wrong message to the millions of holidaymakers that visit the coast.
He said: “There needs to be better education, in particular families need to be encouraged to use the bins. I’m quite certain that if new bins were introduced that were more colourful, for example, it would be a far more effective way of tackling the problem than being heavy handed with fines.”
Meanwhile, Ilkley residents posted photographs on a Facebook community site of rubbish left behind on the famous moor.
The town’s parish council was due to discuss the issue at its annual meeting last night along with Bradford Council, which is launching a new community campaign aimed at keeping Ilkley tidy.
Clare Smith, the parish council’s clerk, said: “Unfortunately the rubbish bins can’t cope with the sheer volume of people that are coming to Ilkley.
“We are looking at what can be done. It’s a beauty spot and we want it to keep looking beautiful. If the new strategy does help, we would welcome it, because we do have a problem on warm days.”
The Government’s plans, which are to be discussed in a consultation, include forcing flytippers to pick up litter if handed community service punishments by courts. Other moves will see councils banned from charging householders for disposal of DIY household waste at tips.
TWO SALIENT words appear to be missing from the Government’s new strategy to combat litter – personal responsibility. It’s not the fault of local councils that parks, beauty spots and beaches were left resembling rubbish tips following the weekend heatwave because some families were too lazy to clean up after themselves.
Yet, given the problem appears more pronounced than 30 years ago when Margaret Thatcher and Richard Branson launched a campaign to rid the nation’s streets of litter, Ministers are duty-bound to look again at the issue.
There is a case to be made for councils not charging residents to dump bulky waste at local authority rubbish tips – this will mean there’s no excuse for flytipping, though a consequence will be less money for the provision of additional bins and so on.
There’s also merit to challenging take-away and fast food outlets to do more to clear up litter-strewn streets near their premises – it is, after all, their clientele that is contributing to the problem. A business rate discount for the cleanest districts could be an incentive.
And while Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom’s desire to fine offenders up to £150 signals a determination on her part, she negates to mention the small matter of enforcement. That’s why the best solution remains the cheapest and closest to home – civic pride where responsible householders are asked to spend a small amount of time picking up litter each week. If they did so in sufficient numbers, the collective effort would be considerable and might shame offenders into changing their behaviour as a consequence.