Tougher penalties to tackle littering have been welcomed as new figures show the cost of clearing up rubbish in St Edmundsbury has soared to £1.4million.
Tougher penalties to tackle littering have been welcomed as new figures show the cost of clearing up rubbish in St Edmundsbury has soared to £1.4million.
Mayor of St Edmundsbury Julia Wakelam said if people want to live in beautiful towns like Bury St Edmunds, but don’t clear up their litter, they should “go somewhere else”.
The Government has just launched the first national Litter Strategy, which includes new fines of £150 for the most serious litterers while vehicle owners could receive penalty notices when it can be proved litter was thrown from their car.
This joins a series of measures including an improved distribution of public litter bins and further educating children.
In St Edmundsbury the borough council has forked out £5.4m over the last four financial years on street cleansing, rising from £1.2m in 2013/14 to £1.4m by 2016/17.
A borough council spokesman said: “There is no excuse for littering. Any spotlight from the Government on the societal issue of littering and the negative impact that it has on local communities has to be welcomed.
“St Edmundsbury Borough Council takes the issue very seriously and through our Love Where You Live campaign we support community groups, providing equipment for litter picks, whether they are one off or ongoing events. Underlying all of this is the question as to how we change people’s behaviour to prevent littering from happening in the first place.”
The figures include clearing rubbish from the borough’s stretch of the A14 and emptying litter bins and sweeping up twigs and leaves.
Ms Wakelam, who also welcomes the strategy, said: “It’s really unfair the rest of the community should have to clear up other people’s litter.”
She added at a time of austerity in local Government, “the selfish behaviour of a few is costing the rest of us”.
The council spokesman said they hoped the Government would use the strategy to help bring together joined up working between local councils, communities and businesses to try to stamp the problem out.
Bury St Edmunds MP Jo Churchill said it was everyone’s responsibility to look after the environment and ensure Suffolk remained a wonderful place to live.
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