Extra teams of street cleaners will be deployed in Cardiff at night to try clean up after the city’s seagulls.
The city council say that seagulls tearing open the orange waste bags given to commercial premises is worse currently because it is breeding season for the birds.
A council spokesman said: “These birds are very intelligent and are a protected species under UK Law. This new operation is being brought in to manage the issues that continue to arise during the breeding season.”
What will happen?
- New teams will be sent out between 5pm and 9pm after the day shift of staff has finished
- A team will work between 5pm and 9pm focusing on Mill Lane, the Hayes and Lower St Mary’s Street in the city
- The hours the weekend team work will be extended to 9pm to collect and clean up commercial waste
- New bin storage areas will be put in Mill Lane from this Thursday as an interim measure until official planning permission can be gained for bins to be made permanent
- Enforcement officers will step up their patrols against those breaking the rules
'Embarrassment'
The council said that on top of that, locations for additional bin storage along St Mary Street and Caroline Street will be explored and there will be a review of commercial waste collection routes and times to ensure that waste is on the street for the shortest time possible.
There has been a rise in the number of complaints from residents saying that the city centre was becoming an “embarrassment”.
A number of photographs have been shared online from both Cardiff’s parks and the city centre.
There were also huge piles of litter gathered on Barry Island’s main beach after a sunny spell.
Plaid Cymru’s councillor Neil McEvoy criticised the council for reducing the number of staff working to clear rubbish.
The council responded saying that any reduction of staff in the City Operations directorate, “is in line with the reduction in staff across the majority of service areas in the council”.
'Population is growing'
A spokesman said: “Due to budget restraints we have to deliver services with less money. The city’s population is growing and demand is growing but budgets are shrinking. This pressure on resource means the city council has to work in partnership with other organisations and residents to find new ways of delivering services. Most people do their best not to litter, but we need everyone to understand how important it is to respect their fellow citizens and help keep Cardiff tidy.”
When asked why the council uses bin bags, rather than bins which would not be accessible to the birds, the spokesman said that commercial business waste requires a commercial contract and that service has to be paid for.
The council is in competition with private sector businesses so while they will now provide large bins as an interim measure, that opens them up to misuse by businesses who don’t have a contract and want to dispose of their waste for free.
Cabinet member Bob Derbyshire said: “Cardiff is not the only city suffering with these issues, the Severn Estuary has one of the largest colonies of seagulls in the UK and other cities such as Bristol and Bath are experiencing the same problems.
'We want a clean city'
“Other complaints relate to the increase in litter in our parks. During the hot weather the use of our parks increase and we ask everyone that use the parks to use the bins provided or if they are full to take their litter home. Everybody needs to take responsibility for litter and waste issues. If litter wasn’t dropped on the floor in the first place, there would be no need to spend £5 million pounds on street cleansing operations each year. We want a clean and tidy city, but we need everyone to play their part to ensure this happens.
“We are about to roll out a plan of action which will work towards delivering better street scenes for our residents. A new neighbourhood services approach will see teams from different departments come together to deep clean areas in the city. It’s really important that residents recognise that littering isn’t just a council problem.”
Louise Tambini, operations director for Keep Wales Tidy, said: “We need to change behaviour in the long term and so education and enforcement is vital, but equally as important is engaging and working with communities and trialing other solutions that may help to encourage people to do the right thing.
“Littering is not acceptable and if we all adopt this frame of mind and work together, we will make a positive difference.”
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/extra-teams-street-cleaners-deployed-11672147
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