People who are caught dropping and leaving litter behind in public in Wirral will be hit with an on-the-spot fine from new enforcement officers.
Wirral Council appointed the St Helen’s-based privately-owned Kingdom Ltd to provide environmental enforcement services in the borough giving them responsibility for enforcing legislation around litter left on streets and in parks and other open spaces.
From July 1, enforcement officers from Kingdom have been be out and about targeting those anti-social people who don’t dispose of their litter in a responsible way. Anyone observed dropping and leaving litter receives an on-the-spot penalty of £80. The firm says that its officers will be taking a zero tolerance approach to the issue and the proceeds from the fixed penalties will go back into environmental activities in the borough, such as tackling litter, graffiti and fly-posting.
Bernie Mooney, the council’s cabinet member for Environment and Sustainability, said: “I know from the feedback we get whenever we conduct public consultations, as well as more informal conversations I’ve had with local residents, that cleaning up our public spaces is a real priority for Wirral people.
“At the heart of this issue is a need to tackle that minority of people who still believe it is okay to just drop their rubbish wherever they fancy. It can’t just be about education or awareness-raising anymore, nor can we afford to just throw more money into street-cleansing – there has to be a realistic deterrent and I believe hitting these irresponsible people in the pocket is the way to go. Having dedicated environmental enforcement officers out there every day issuing on the spot fines to those who are caught in the act should soon get the message out there that we mean business. Dropping litter is anti-social behaviour and blights communities and I would think the majority of local people believe we are right to be targeting offenders in this way.”
According to the council, street-cleansing costs Wirral £3.7m per year and last year more than 4,500 tonnes of waste was collected from street cleansing rounds.
Michael Fisher, Divisional Director for Kingdom Environmental Protection Division (EPD), said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Wirral Council with the common aim of reducing street litter within the district and make the streets both cleaner and safer for all members of the community. Kingdom EPD have been delivering a wide range of environmental investigations and enforcement services on a national basis since 2009 and have consequently contributed to a reduction in street litter and the associated cost of street cleaning as a result of our efforts.
“Our aim is to patrol in an ‘intelligence led’ manner focusing our controls on identified litter hotspots operating a robust but always proportionate methodology to tackle the problem, using a wide range of technical support including body worn cameras and a ‘real time’ capability of verifying details provided in the event of transgressions being identified. Our patrols will be instructed to communicate openly with the community with the overall aim of inclusivity for the Wirral community to play their part in the task ahead.”
