War on litter: district council praised by Leamington clean up campaign leader

People are being encouraged to ‘do the right thing’ after a report was made by Warwick District Council concerning additional provision for the clearing and disposal of litter in the area.
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A ten-week £37,500 programme to install 36 new litter bins and to replace 57 damaged and missing bins was completed last month.

In October last year an additional litter bin emptying team came into operation and provided an extra 80 collections per day.

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The schedule of collections for this team was reviewed in January 2019 and has been increased to circa 140 per day.

And between May and late September 2018 an additional parks and open spaces cleansing team commenced operations and two seasonal barrowmen started cleansing duties at St Nicholas Park and Jephson Gardens.

The additional cost to the council to provide these teams is £176,000 per annum.

John Read is the founder of Clean up Britain, which has a partnership with the Courier as part of its Now or Never campaign in Leamington, said: “This is a very positive development from the district council.

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“We know from our behavioural change work that the provision of litter bins, in easily accessible areas, is essential.

“More bins provides more opportunities for people to do the right thing, and dispose of their litter where it should be

“It is also good to see an enhanced bin-emptying regime.

“Overflowing bins is a big own goal for any council.

“Overall, the council deserve credit and recognition for investing in new and clean-looking bins.

“What people need to do is use them, always.

“They have no excuses.

“If they don’t, they deserve to be fined.”

The council has reported positive feedback from park visitors and a decrease in complaints in regard to litter.

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The report says: “During the summer we received several compliments via social media in relation to the cleanliness of Jephson Gardens and St Nicholas Park.

“Litter bin complaints arising from the parks during May 2018 to December 2018 were 15 in comparison to 27 complaints from May 2017 to December 2017.

“The provision of the additional cleansing teams to the destination parks is likely to be a contributing factor to this improved position.”

For more about Clean up Britain and its campaigns go online.

[http://cleanupbritain.org|cleanupbritain.org}