Carlisle clean campaign continues

(Date of issue: Monday, 30 March 2009)

Local residents are being urged to support a campaign to make Carlisle… cleaner than ever or face picking up a £75 fine.

Carlisle City Council wants local people to work alongside them to tackle enviro-crimes like graffiti, littering, dog fouling, fly-tipping and fly-posting. A recent initiative includes the installation of new ‘gum and butt’ bins in the city centre.

An additional member of staff has also been recruited to enforce the rules set out in the Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act and issue fines to those who break them.

A public awareness campaign to make the city cleaner, greener and safer continues to be up and running throughout the city. This has included:

• Around 2,000 free pocket ashtrays have been handed out to local residents in an effort to reduce the littering of cigarette stubs;
• Around 150,000 free bio-bags for dog fouling have been picked up by dog owners visiting local community buildings such as the Civic Centre and local community centres;
• More 1,000 ‘Rewards’ tokens have been handed out to local youngsters who are seen keeping the city clean. Young people who take part in litter picks or are witnessed by the City Council putting their rubbish in bins are given the tokens;
• More than 1,600 complaints have also been dealt with. This includes the issuing of warning letters, removal of fly posters and fly tipping alongside other appropriate action; and
• Since the enforcement of the campaign in autumn 2006, 204 fines have been issued for dog fouling, 50 fines have been issued for littering, 31 fines have been issued for fly posting and 36 fines have been issued for not having a dog on a lead in a designated area.

City Councillor Ray Bloxham, Portfolio holder for Environment and Infrastructure, said:

“We invested time and effort getting the message across that littering and other enviro-crime will not be tolerated. We’ve found that we’ve only had to issue a small number of fines, as we took the education before enforcement approach. When it’s explained that fines can be issued, people think twice about dropping litter.”

As part of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, enforcement officers can issue a minimum £75 fine to people who drop litter, fly-tip, spray graffiti, fly-post, distribute flyers or leaflets, or fail to clean up their dog’s mess.

In addition to the promotional material, officers from the City Council visited schools, community events and Neighbourhood Forums to spread the word.