Litter is a big issue in Chelmsford and our Lib Dem run City Council is failing to use the powers it has to tackle the issue.
Across the city many dedicated volunteers give many hours of their time to collect litter and try to keep the city clean and tidy. The excellent Chelmsford Litter Wombles Facebook group has over 800 members.
New data released by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs shows that Chelmsford City Council is not treating this issue as seriously as local residents.
Chelmsford’s council is not using the powers given to it by Government to fine those who litter or fly tip.
The data shows that last year, Chelmsford City Council only issued a meagre 6 fixed penalty notice fines for issues like fly tipping or littering compared to 80 in Braintree, 318 in Harlow and 608 in Brentwood. Basildon council issued a whopping 6,420 fines.
In March, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came to Chelmsford to launch his Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan. As part of that plan, the Government has increased the upper limits for fixed penalty notices for littering, graffiti and fly-tipping offences; consulted stakeholders on ringfencing the money raised from litter and fly-tipping penalties for enforcement and clean up activity; and conducted research into effective enforcement practices and barriers.
In the action plan, the government also committed to increase transparency of the data on the use of on-the-spot fines, including publishing league tables on fly-tipping. The first set of these tables was published on the 23rd August 2023: The data is available here. https://www.gov.uk/.../local-authority-fly-tipping...
I know that many residents want Chelmsford to look clean and tidy. The issue of litter is often raised with me on the doorsteps and in school visits. Volunteers give hours of their time for free to collect litter and it is shocking to see how much litter they uncover.
Fines can be a really strong deterrent and help encourage people not to create litter. Furthermore, there are really strict rules so that money from fines cannot be used to boost a council’s general coffers but they can be used to pay for cleaner streets and roadsides, waste bins and litter clearing. It is really depressing that Lib Dem run Chelmsford City Council is not using its full powers to take action on litter and instead relies on the very generous goodwill of volunteers. I believe our council is failing to focus on using its full powers to deliver the services that local rate payers deserve.
These photos were taken when I was out and about with the Wombles this spring in Springfield.
