City needs Anti Litter Campaign say Lib Dems

6.26.23pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 5th Sep 2003

Liberal Democrat councillors have taken the issue of on-the-spot litter fines to the floor of the council chamber. The councillors want to see the success of schemes in areas such as Darlington mirrored in Brighton and Hove.

The motion, to be heard at the 25 September full council meeting, seeks a detailed examination of how the fines and their enforcement would work. The fines should be supported with close workings with local residents and businesses and be the first step in turning the tide in the city's litter problem.

Lib Dem Group Leader, Councillor Paul Elgood said:

"The success of on-the-spot fines in areas such as Darlington is clearly evident, with hundred of people having to pay the £50 fine for minor littering issues."

"With rubbish and litter problems paramount in the city, its time that we had a zero tolerance policy to get our streets cleaning once and for all. The council must play its part too and put behind it the bin dispute of a few weeks ago."

"The streets are a mess and direct action is needed to stamp out this culture of littering which has developed here. It is unacceptable and the council should be seeking new ways of dealing with it."

"The success of the decriminalisation of parking proves that when the council takes matters into its own hands, then action can follow."

"The council also needs to take a detailed look at the issue of community wardens. If we have an active team of 'spotters' out in the community then a whole range of problems could be dealt with. The council lacks this grassroots link."