Spelthorne Borough Council is stepping up its battle against litter with the launch of the #NoRubbishExcuses campaign.
The Council frequently receives feedback from residents regarding the cleanliness of the Bor-ough and know they are keen for us to do more to tackle littering. We, of course, realise the majority of residents do not drop litter and are grateful for their help and support in keeping local neighbourhoods clean and tidy. There is, sadly, a small minority of selfish individuals who persistently drop litter.
The excuses for dropping litter are akin to ‘my dog ate my homework’, namely unbelievable because there is no excuse. If the bins are full, make the Council aware and take your litter home with you. We will be focusing our ef-forts on streets, parks, playgrounds, the river, wildlife and roads with the strapline #NoRubbishExcuses on posters you will see across the Borough.
During lockdown our parks, green spaces and the River Thames were utilised and valued by a huge number of people in the Borough but sadly, alongside this came a substantial in-crease in antisocial behaviour from some members of the public and the volumes of lit-ter and waste being left behind exceeded any-thing our enforcement teams have ever had to deal with. As we step into the recovery phase for the Borough with our highstreets back in business, leisure activities kick-starting and schools re-opening, we feel there is no better time to clean up Spelthorne!
There are already regular litter pick events and groups running across the Borough who are energising the community and making a real difference. Local resident Shirley Lunn who recently helped form the Spelthorne Litter Pickers group and is a proud part of the litter picking community, said: “As residents of the Borough we can all play a part in ensuring our community is clean and safe and I welcome this new campaign to spread awareness in Spelthorne. Our group is open to everyone and we have been amazed by the community’s re-sponse and determination. It has also been enjoyable to meet other like-minded people from our local area. As Margaret Mead, the American anthropologist said – ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”.
The Council are showing their support by pro-moting these events through their communica-tion channels and providing equipment for the pick-ups and a point of contact who arranges any help they may require to ensure the tasks are done safely and efficiently. The Great Brit-ish Spring Clean was postponed this year and has been rebranded as the Great British Sep-tember Clean. We will be urging residents, businesses and communities to become more litter aware and take pride in their local areas. For details on how to litter-pick safely, please see their website: www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-british-spring-clean/coronavirus-guidance
Cllr Richard Barratt, Portfolio Holder for Waste, said: “There are no excuses for drop-ping litter – it is an incredibly selfish thing to do and damaging for the environment. We hope that our coordinated approach with the community, residents, businesses and stake-holders will see positive results and I ask that all residents support this scheme by sharing our messages, taking their rubbish home with them and, together, we can make a cleaner, greener Spelthorne.”