Issue - meetings

To provide Members of the Environment PDG with an opportunity to review the proposed draft of the Mid Devon Litter Strategy.

The Group had before it the draft *Mid Devon District Council Litter Strategy presented by the Operations Manager Street Scene and Open Spaces.

The Officer explained many Members had been involved in the creation of the Strategy and that it detailed how the Council would educate and enforce. The aim was to engage with partners, the community and the public to reduce littering in the District.

Consideration was given to:

·         Members concerns that you could not engage with some members of the public

·         Members views that the Strategy needed to be measurable and achievable

It was therefore RECOMMENDED to the Cabinet that the Mid Devon District Council Litter Strategy in Appendix 1 be adopted.

(Proposed by the Chairman)

Note: *Strategy previously circulated and attached to the minutes

To provide Members of the Environment PDG with an opportunity to review the proposed draft of the Litter Strategy and RECOMMEND it to the Cabinet

The Group had before it a *report of the Operations Manager for Street Scene which presented the MDDC Litter Strategy.

The officer explained that the strategy concentrated on the impacts of littering and education of the public, and looked to work with local charities and stakeholders. It looked at the infrastructure, of where bins were located and focused on the areas with frequent littering. The strategy concentrated on problems area’s with effective enforcement and a softer approach via education.

Consideration was given to Members views which included:

·         The cost charged to Parish Councils for the collection of waste from additional litter bins was not viable for the Parishes

·         That Fixed Penalty Notices fines were not high enough and were not a deterrent

·         That education of the public was not enough and that surveillance camera’s should be utilized to catch and fine people who litter

·         That there was a perception from some Members that senior officers did not want to make difficult decisions with regard to enforcement

·         Who was going to do the education of the public?

·         The Strategy did not deal with the litter on the roads into the District

·         Some Members supported the education and prevention approach, especially with the younger generation, rather than an enforcement approach

The Deputy Chief Executive (S151) explained that Members had before them the overarching strategy for litter but what he was hearing was that Members wanted to be involved in creating more detail around the operational processes and detailed guidance.

It was therefore AGREED that the MDDC Draft Litter Strategy be deferred to enable a Working Group to be formed where Members and officers could agree a final Strategy which could be recommended to the Cabinet.

(Proposed by the Chairman)

Reason for the decision: No decision was made

Note: *Report previously circulated and attached to the minutes

To receive the draft MDDC Litter Strategy before it is presented to Environment PDG and Cabinet.

The Committee had before it a *report of the Operations Manager for Street Scene inviting comment and  feedback on the content and proposal of the draft Litter Strategy prior to the report and draft strategy being presented to the Environment Policy Development Group.

The Chairman indicated that he had spoken to several Members with regard to the content of the Litter Strategy and had passed his concerns on to officers.

The officer outlined the contents of the report stating that it was now common place for grants in respect of street cleansing and environmental initiatives to require a litter strategy to be supplied as part of the grant process.  The council had a clear role to play and currently dedicated a large resource to providing and emptying bins and picking up litter in general.  The Litter Strategy in line with national strategies covered:

·         Education and awareness

·         Better cleaning and litter infrastructure

·         Improving enforcement.

The strategy would be a living document and reviewed on a yearly basis and key performance indicators would be monitored regularly.

Consideration was given to:

·         The objectives as set out in the strategy

·         The work of the District Officers and the number of officers available to take part in this type of work and the number of fixed penalty notices served in the last year

·         The work taking place with Clean Devon Partnership

·         The need for a unified strategy across Devon and the partnerships that were already in place

·         The need to keep Devon tidy for local residents and tourists

·         The use of the word ‘continue’ which was obviously not working and for the strategy to be precise so that all issues were covered

·         The need for behavioural changes and that current messages with regard to recycling and litter were falling on deaf ears

·         Schemes being run in different parts of the country which rewarded good behaviour with regard to littering and where charities could benefit, the use of bright coloured bins in town centres, opportunities for recycling on the go and reducing plastic packaging by working with local supermarkets

·         The opportunity to put conditions on litter control in new developments

·         There was no mention of overt cameras or the hours of patrol within the strategy - although overt cameras was discussed in the report

·         The lack of resources to facilitate the strategy

·         Issues with local takeaways and the amount of litter that arose from those premises

·         Existing prosecution powers should be named and included in the strategy as well as who and how with regard to education

·         The need to empower the public and the need for the strategy to have more detail

·         Issues with litter beside the link road and that the officers were now aware of the schedule for cutting the verges, so that a litter pick could take place prior to cutting.

It was AGREED that all of the issues that had been raised would be considered and incorporated into a revised strategy to go before the Environment Policy Development Group.

Note:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12