The Labour group at Babergh District Council has launched the Keep Babergh Tidy campaign to tackle littering, encourage recycling and urge other green measures.

East Anglian Daily Times: Luke Cresswell, Labour councillor for Sudbury, has called for an end of single-use plastics across the Babergh district Picture: CONTRIBUTEDLuke Cresswell, Labour councillor for Sudbury, has called for an end of single-use plastics across the Babergh district Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

The Labour group plans to put forward a series of motions in a bid to tackle the problems, starting from the next full council meeting.

The first calls on the council to put in place a plan to have zero dependence on single use plastics by the end of 2019, as well as non-recyclable coffee cups at all council buildings.

It also urges the council to become a member of the Keep Britain Tidy network and explore whether towns such as Hadleigh and Sudbury could get on-street recycling bins to help people recycle on the go.

Labour councillor for Sudbury south, Luke Cresswell, said: “I’m proud to represent Sudbury South, which includes our town centre, but when conversation turns to litter it can be embarrassing.

East Anglian Daily Times: Babergh District Council leader John Ward said littering and its impact on the environment were taken seriously Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWNBabergh District Council leader John Ward said littering and its impact on the environment were taken seriously Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN (Image: Archant)

“It’s time the district council stepped up to tackle litter and led the way in becoming more environmentally friendly.

“Sudbury and Great Cornard have some wonderful volunteers who regularly litter pick but we need to do more to prevent such litter.

“Single use plastics are a scourge in our community - they do great harm to our environment and often fill our roadsides.

“We need to reduce the use of single use plastic drastically and offer bins in Sudbury and Hadleigh town centres to enable people to recycle cans, paper and card, plastic and glass items.”

Mr Cresswell warned that if street cleaning did not improve the Labour group would call for contracts to be cancelled and services brought back in house.

Babergh District Council leader John Ward, Conservative, said: “At Babergh we take our impact on the environment seriously - reducing it forms one of our five strategic priorities, and we’ve already ensured our staff based at Endeavour House are not required to use any single-use plastics.

“We are determined to keep working towards a cleaner environment in our districts and I look forward to discussing the details of this motion with my fellow members.”