Isle of Wight Council is teaming up with Keep Britain Tidy as part of its continuing campaign to keep our beautiful Island tidy.
The council has become a member of the Keep Britain Tidy network which brings together organisations with the common goal of improving local environmental quality through eliminating litter, ending waste and improving local places.
This latest news ties in with a new social media campaign – ‘What’s Your Excuse?’ – targeting the effect of post-lockdown littering, dog mess and fly-tip launching today (25 August). New signs will also be placed in ‘problem’ local areas, designed to make potential litterers and fly-tippers think about what they are doing.
Cabinet lead on environment, heritage and waste management, Councillor Jonathan Bacon, said:
“I am really pleased to be announcing our partnership with Keep Britain Tidy as part of our strategy to crack down on the blight of litter, fly-tip and dog mess. We want to get the message out that we want to continue to keep our beautiful Island tidy and preserve our precious Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status.
“Whether a resident or visitor, we all have a part to play in cracking down on littering. I am looking forward to working together with Keep Britain Tidy to send the message that we will not tolerate selfish behaviour of people who think they can continue to blight our towns, coats and countryside.”
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Isle of Wight Council as a member of our Network. By working together and sharing best practice, we are able to support councils with the ambition to create clean, litter-free environments for their residents and visitors.”
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The on-going ‘Keep Our Beautiful Island Tidy’ litter and fly-tip prevention campaign has already seen the council set up a news task and finish group looking at how we can reduce litter, flytip and dog mess through education, public engagement and enforcement.
This summer has also seen increased litter collection in places of heavy foot-fall and recruitment of extra staff 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.
Further campaigns with Keep Britain Tidy and action around dog mess, fly-tip and littering will continue throughout the rest of the year.
It’s mostly visitors dumping crap on our beaches during the summer months, after all they can’t clutter up the huge 4×4 tanks they bring over here.
Mostly local teenagers and some adult dog walkers are the problem in our nature reserves.
And this is from a Council who did not prosecute anyone for fly-tipping last year
There is more litter than ever!
I don’t know why instead of being fined and let of the hook, criminals can’t do proper community service .. give them a lovely uniform that’s totally embarrassing, and get them picking up litter and weeding streets.. and not just one day a week.