New measures to ensure the Island is looking at its best over the peak summer holiday season have been announced by the Isle of Wight Council.
Litter bins in tourist hotspots will be emptied more often and beaches cleaned daily as part of a summer litter prevention campaign unveiled this week.
Extra staff are also being recruited to keep parks, public open spaces and beaches clean and safe, while promoting local amenities and businesses and supporting a safer community and cleaner environment. Acting as eyes and ears on the ground, their duties will include reporting littering, fly-tipping, graffiti, dog fouling and anti-social behaviour, so that they can be tackled swiftly.
Around £9,000 will be used to ‘top-up’ services provided by town and parish councils to ensure litter bins are emptied at least 3 times a day at Shanklin, Sandown and Ryde. Bins covered under the Highways PFI in Newport, Ryde, Cowes, Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor will also be emptied more frequently.
A further £6,600 will be used to introduce more daily beach cleans, with Ryde West, Lake, East Cowes, Springvale, Seaview and Freshwater being added to the list.
One of the most significant measures costing around £42,900 is the recruitment of 9 public realm assistants who will work alongside and support town and parish councils, businesses and communities. Working as part of the council’s environment officer team, their duties will include:
- monitoring litter bin emptying on beaches and esplanades with the ability to request additional collections;
- monitoring litter on beaches and arranging additional cleans where necessary;
- working with environment staff to ensure enforcement of dogs on beaches orders and the new beach marker buoys;
- providing safety checks of all beach safety equipment;
- inspecting seafront toilets and reporting any issues.
With a staycation boom expected this summer, Councillor Jonathan Bacon, Cabinet lead for the environment, said it was more important than ever that the Island was looking its best. He said:
“As lockdown eases over the coming days, we want the Island to bounce back as we reopen and welcome visitors back so our businesses, that rely heavily on tourism, can thrive and get the economy moving.
“We are determined to do everything we can to ensure our beaches and esplanades look inviting to our visitors and residents alike, while working proactively with our partners to coordinate and strengthen plans to keep everyone safe.”
To report litter, overflowing bins, dog mess or fly-tipping on council land, including beaches, email waste services on [email protected] or complete the form at https://www.iow.gov.uk/Residents/Environment-Planning-and-Waste/Waste-and-Recycling/Hazardous-Waste-and-Emergencies/Fly-Tip-CrimeNotToCare.
If the issue relates to litter on the highway, verge or pavement, contact Island Roads via www.fixmystreet.com or call the hub on 01983 822440.
Councillor Bacon added:
“This last year has been tremendously challenging for everyone and we’re pulling out all the stops to make 2021 the year of opportunity with measures to support a safe and successful reopening of our seaside resorts this summer.
“We can all support our beautiful island and protect our unique biosphere environment by making sure litter goes into bins provided or is taken home when they are full.”
UPDATE – Councillor Adrian Whittaker of Lake North has responded to the news:
“I have with interest looked at the announcements from Cllr Bacon about the investment in more staff to ensure the Island stays litter free this summer. The vast majority of proposals I welcome, but at what cost to the tax payers once the Welcome Back Fund has been used? Ultimately the Isle of Wight Council would need to budget for this to continue or will it be another burden for local Town and Parish Councils?
“The proposal that concerns me is the inspecting of seafront toilets and reporting any issues. All seafront toilets, apart from the dilapidated toilets in Pier Street Sandown and the Spa site in Shanklin have all been handed to Town & Parish Councils, and they maintain them, pay for cleaning and the maintenance. So what right have the IW Council got to interfere in assets they have pushed onto Town and Parish Councils to look after with no financial support? Many of these toilets also were liable for business rates until it was recently abolished thanks to much lobbying by individuals to central government.
“Most of the public toilets were handed to Town and parish Councils in a terrible state of repair, this was due to lack of investment by the Isle of Wight Council over a substantial amount of years. Now with no consultation they wish to inspect Town and Parish Councils assets (liabilities) with no financial contribution for their upkeep.
“Most local Councils pay into the environment officer scheme that covers the beach and toilets, I personally think this part of the Welcome Back Fund could have been spent on extra signage or refurbishing existing public realm areas”.
so…simply reversing a bad decision from ages ago. It beggars belief that the council have to actually see the results of their poor decisions before acting, instead of listening to those in the know and preventing the obvious consequences by not changing what wasnt broken.
Cleaning beaches is not litter prevention.
How about deposits on packaging to encourage returning instead of dumping it on the beach.
Including a message on every sofa ‘Do not dump and burn on a beach near you’, in 23 various languages of course.
Have to agree, we should also have wardens with the power to issue on the spot fines for littering, that are doubled if you throw a cigarette but down, this would include fines if not placed in a suitable bin.
Why not use the convicted in the court cases section to do the work of collecting beach litter as part of there “unpaid work” penalty….,
But that would require a local government that cared about their tax payers instead of their pockets.
Yes, absolutely yes. What exactly do the convicted do when they are given community service? I never see people out on the street. I have said these people should give something back to their community. I’m with you on this one
I expect some of them will be the very ones who drop their litter everywhere anyway! Would be funny if they ended up having to pick up their own litter that they’d dropped previously.
9 public realm assistants
I think they could have got people to do this on a voluntary basis, since there seem to be a lot of unpaid litter collectors doing that chore for nothing.
A few hours patrolling the seafronts, sounds like a Dad’s Army type of thing.
It is not just the beaches, the roads are as bad as the disgusting scumbags throw their mcdonalds wrappers and other rubbish out of their cars, Bullen road was bad yesterday and on North walk they are too lazy to even walk to a bin.
For years, before it ever became ‘fashionable’ to do so, I’ve been taking other people’s rubbish off the beach. I used to get so depressed at seeing it all there. I haven’t been to beach this year yet. Last year i recall seeing a group of loudmouth young people. mainly female with 2 males, all raucous, eating some takeaway meals & drinking from coke cans. They were not on the beach but standing by the wall near canoe lake in Ryde. First one of the females threw all her rubbish over the wall onto the beach, then all the rest of them followed her lead & did the same. Rough aggressive types so felt unable to confront them.
Tax credit charity kept low life are ruining this Island. Paying people to breed encourages the wrong sort to have too many and now we are paying the price for it.
When children were only born because ‘they’ were wanted, not just a roof and easy income, life was better and so were the children.
Couldn’t agree more! Been happening definitely since at least the 1980s, Loads of them back then having kids purposely because they knew the authorities “can’t do enough for you”. Then their offspring start breeding too as soon as they are able. Look what British ‘society; is like now as a result.
Yeah do it in summer, then in winter let the crap build up again.
More signage stating DO NOT LITTER>.( filthy people that do not give a toss } better education too, should be taught in school, and at home to either take your rubbish with you, or put in a bin.
On the spot fines would also be good.
Used to be signs Take your litter home with you at the ferry ports..