Please respect our parks and open spaces – Bin it or take it home

June 1, 2020

Residents and visitors are being asked to respect parks, beaches and other open spaces as lockdown measures are further relaxed today. Up to six people are now allowed to meet outside, as long as those from different households stay at least 2 metres apart.

The hot weekend saw a number of incidents of rubbish being left by people across the Borough. Chalkwell Park was one of the sites that was busy over the weekend. Due to people not being responsible with their litter, it took over three hours to clear the park.

Cllr Carole Mulroney, cabinet member for environment and planning, says: “With lockdown measures relaxing, good weather, and pubs, restaurants and shops still being closed, we have seen much greater demand and usage of public parks, open spaces and beaches across the country.

“Parks staff and our contractors at Veolia are working day and night to keep up with this surge in demand locally but this weekend we saw far too many examples of discarded plastic drinks bottles, glass bottles and food simply being left for someone else to pick up. We have also seen many examples of people just leaving their rubbish strewn on the ground where they have been sitting or bagged rubbish by a full bin.

“We would remind local people and visitors that we all have a responsibility to keep our local environment clean and tidy by binning rubbish or taking it home. There is no excuse for just leaving your empty bottles lying about, so please be responsible.

“If a bin is full, please be assured that we will empty it, but please don’t leave your bagged rubbish next to it. This still constitutes littering. Please take it with you and wait until you can place it properly in another bin, or better still, please take it home.

“All forms of wildlife are exposed to litter left on our beaches and in our parks. We all know the impact litter has on the environment through the many TV programmes showing the problems we as a world face if we do not act soon. You may not think that crisp packet dropped on the ground makes any difference, but it really does. We have to get out of that mindset and all start taking individual responsibility for our environment too.”

Please use MySouthend to report overflowing bins or fly-tipping incidents. Visit www.southend.gov.uk/mysouthend