ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO LITTERING AND DOG FOULING
ENFORCEMENT AND EDUCATION
Appendix A
Activities that are currently undertaken to reduce the incidence of
littering and dog fouling in Poole
Schools’ Environment Award
The Schools’ Environment Award has run for a number of years with approx
19 schools taking part since it started in 2007/08. We are currently re-writing
the Award with slightly changed themes. This is still work in progress, albeit
one of the themes that was in the original Award , and will remain, is littering.
Keep Britain Tidy (KBT)
We have previously worked with KBT on a number of educational
events/themes. These have included cigarette litter, chewing gum, and litter
from vehicles. KBT provide a large amount of advertising (such as Adshells
at Bus Stops, national press, adverts on buses), supplemented by our own
local advertising. This can include deployment of the mobile exhibition unit distributing personal ash trays, gum-raps, car bin-tidies, etc. Unfortunately
(possibly due to a lack of funding) KBT have not conducted any recent
campaigns that we could participate in.
Duty of Care
When a business is suspected of using domestic / litter bins to dispose of their
waste, we contact that business seeking information on how they dispose of
their waste. The business should be able to show a copy of their Waste
Transfer Note – exercises have shown that businesses do not always have a
trade waste contract. We attempt to persuade businesses to adopt measures
to reduce littering, but occasionally need to take an /enforcement approach
(e.g. Street Litter Control notices). In many instances these interventions
have prompted businesses to take out commercial waste contracts,
sometimes with the Council.
Litter Picks
These are organised by the Borough of Poole, or occasionally by local
residents themselves.. Organised litter picks have included the Beaches (to
assist in maintaining the Blue Flag Award), most notably the Great Dorset
Beach Clean. Businesses – including Tesco’s, Asda, Lush - have requested
our assistance in organising litter picks, in additional to local residents. Also,
the Bourne Valley Action Group is active with removing litter and dog-fouling
in their area, as is the Hamworthy Park Dog Walkers Action Group. We often
provide equipment, and arrange to collect waste after the event. Over 50 litter
picking events have taken place between April 2012 and March 2013.
Dog Fouling Interventions
Streetscene cleansing crews provide information on the locations, extent and
time of occurrence of dog-fouling in certain streets, so that Dog Wardens can
target these areas and provide education, advice and deterrence where
possible. We also provide free dog waste bags for dog-walkers at some
locations, although there have been incidences where people have taken
substantial quantities of bags rather than the few needed for use at the time.
Street Watchers
A number of local residents have volunteered to be Street Watchers – these
are encouraged to report issues to us such as graffiti, fly posting, damaged
litter bins etc. This enables us to action and remedy in shorter timescales.
Working with Partners to Clean Up Land, e.g.
- Dorset Probation Trust
In February 2013 we cleaned BoP land at Holes Bay where people had
erected tents in a dense copse. Notice had to be served to move the
occupants, and vegetation cut back in order to gain access to the litter.
Dorset Probation Trust were used to collect litter, at a cost of £100 per day.
- Kerry Foods
We worked in co-operation with Kerry Foods to clear land at the end of Sterte
Avenue West which had been subject to fly tipping – some of this land
belonged to BoP, some belonged to Kerry Foods. Kerry Foods are looking at
putting up fencing to deter further fly tipping, we are installing additional litter
bins. Again, we used the services of the Dorset Probation Trust to keep down
the cost of this clearance.
- Twin Sails
Land that belongs to Gallaghers (on either side of the road of the Twin Sails
road) was badly littered. We met with Gallaghers and agreed funding that
enabled us to cut back vegetation on their land and conduct a litter pick.
- Bus Station
We are negotiating with the Bus Operators to provide funding that will enable
us to regularly cleanse the area, in additional to providing more litter bins and
cigarette disposal points outside of the enclosed areas.
Litter Enforcement
Limited enforcement is carried out by a range of staff working within E&CPS,
Transportation Services and Housing & Community Services, albeit no staff
carry out this function as a dedicated job role. In practice Fixed Penalty
Notices (FPNs) issued for littering are quite low in number (52 since July
2010), reflecting the fact that staff who are authorised to carry out this function
do so as a small part of a wider job role. Furthermore, the number of FPN’s
issued for littering from vehicles has reduced following legal advice that we
need to be able to prove who threw the litter from a vehicle. The FPN amount
for littering is £75, with a reduction to £50 if paid within 7 days.