Tougher action on litter fines

More litter fines and notices to landowners about rubbish on their private land have already been issued in the last six months by Thanet District Council than in the whole of last year.

Since April 2007, 16 Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued to people who dropped litter, compared to just 15 between April 2006 and March 2007. Meanwhile, the results are even more impressive in terms of the number of Notices issued against landowners for rubbish on private land, including people’s gardens. Since April 2007, Council officers have issued 126 of these Notices. In the previous year, they issued just 55.

In the last six months, 33 Fixed Penalty Notices have also been given out to people who have put their black bag out for collection on the wrong day of the week. These are then often attacked by seagulls, littering the streets.

The figures also show that the Council is taking tougher action on the issue of noise nuisance, with 22 abatement notices issued since April 2007, compared to nine in the previous year.

Cllr. Shirley Tomlinson, Cabinet Member for Commercial and Environmental Services, said: “These figures show how tough Thanet District Council is now getting on those who litter our streets, be it by dropping litter – and that includes cigarette butts - or putting their rubbish out on the wrong day or by allowing their dogs to foul. These are all issues that people have told us that they want to see us taking tough action on and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We have widely publicised the fact that we are taking a zero tolerance approach on these issues and hopefully people will take notice and stop dropping litter and allowing their dogs to foul – things that spoil the appearance of our beautiful area.”

ENDS