Disgusting Barry Island beach litter louts could soon face £75 fines for leaving their rubbish behind.
The council are considering employing a private firm to deal with it
The coast was left covered in filth this week when selfish sun worshippers turned up and left behind thousands of empty cans, bottles and food packets.
Now Vale of Glamorgan council are meeting on Monday to discuss employing a private firm to clamp down on the slobs.
“We are looking at employing an enforcement agency to come and do that,” council leader Neil Moore said.
“We have our own enforcement officers at the moment but we are going to employ a firm to do it.
“We could send them down to the beach, that is a scheme we are thinking about.
“We do not want to be too draconian but that might be the only way.
“It’s perfectly reasonable.”
Council papers say that the authority has a legal duty “to keep relevant land clear of litter and refuse.”
The authority spends more than £1m a year cleaning up after people in the county.
“This cost is unsustainable in the current, or indeed any, economic climate,” the paper says.
“Regrettably much of the litter that is collected has been dropped by members of the public who have taken a conscious decision to do so, rather than to dispose of their waste responsibly.”
It said fines would be “around £75.”
“If people do not pay it they will be taken to court and there will be an increased cost,” Coun Moore said.
Commenting on why people litter, Coun Moore added: “They are either too lazy or have no respect for others.
“To be honest if they cannot respect what is provided I would rather they did not come.”
He said he was appalled by the mess left at the resort on Tuesday.
“It was disgraceful, there is no other word for it,” the politician said.
“People come and enjoy the facilities and the sand and the sun, but then disregard it.
“They would not come if it was like that when they arrived.
“Every morning the beach is scoured and cleaned and raked and it is presentable every day.”
People were still littering yesterday.
“I’m stood here now and there is an empty chip carton 10 yards from a bin,” Coun Moore said.
The town hall sought quotes from firms interested in looking after the county last year.
Fines were not the favoured policy of Friends of the Earth Cymru director Gareth Clubb.
“Most litter left by people in places of leisure and so on is comprised of drink containers, that is something that has been found in a lot of surveys,” Mr Clubb said.
“The standout way of almost eliminating litter is having deposits on cans and bottles, the kind that you used to have on Corona bottles and so on.
“Legislation should be implemented by the National Assembly to enable deposits to be paid on all drink containers that would eliminate all rubbish.”
Last year the BBC reported that Keep Wales Tidy, which advises the Welsh Government, told it “the time is now right” to consider a return to a deposit scheme.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are currently evaluating our waste strategy Towards Zero Waste to make sure resources are managed in Wales to produce benefits not only for the environment, but also for our economy and social well-being.”
One thing being considered as part of that is a deposit scheme.
No comments:
Post a Comment