Members of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Communities Committee will meet next week and be asked to agree arrangements for the preparation of the Council’s Litter Prevention Action Plan.
The committee will receive a report on Tuesday 5 September that Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) have been engaged on behalf of the Scottish Government to lead on and support Zero Waste Plans, and the Litter Action Plans that are set to be put in place by March next year are a crucial part of this work. Local authorities across Scotland are being encouraged and supported by ZWS to come up with a litter action plan.
The main benefits to our Council implementing such a plan is that it will bring together a joined up approach with dealing with the problem of litter, both within the Council and by working with external partners and organisations. The internal work will focus on greater cohesion with schools on the educational side of littering, and how community safety officers and the operatives who pick up litter and uplift bins can work together to identify the problem areas with the region. Zero Waste Scotland have committed dedicated time to assist our Council in drawing up this plan which will look at us working with key partners including the NHS, waste management companies, Police Scotland and fast food outlets in the region.
The plan is intended to be produced in draft format and approved by the Communities committee before the end of this year, with an implementation date of 31 March 2018 being set for it to come into force. A decision on whether to implement a regionalised plan or whether to have one for each town/area of Dumfries and Galloway is set to be made in the near future, when officers from our Council and ZWS next meet.
Communities Committee Chairman, Councillor Andy Ferguson said of the report;
“This is a welcome step towards tackling the litter problem within Dumfries and Galloway. I look forward to seeing a draft plan, whether that’s for the entire region or at a local level. The plan will allow us to focus Council services and departments in a way that allows them to share the workload and tackle litter head on.”Communities Committee Vice-Chair, Councillor John Martin commented;
“It’s good to see the Scottish Government through Zero Waste Scotland, tackling the nationwide problem of litter. It costs thousands of pounds each year to clean up, it looks unsightly and has no place in our society. The work of Zero Waste Scotland will also hopefully encourage some external organisations to be a bit more proactive in how they deal with littering.”
To view the full report visit our website at www.dumgal.gov.uk
