Coghill calls for tough stance on litter louts
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
GREATER emphasis should be placed on tackling offenders who throw litter on the streets.
Landward Caithness councillor Robert Coghill believes more observation is needed to identify the extent of the litter problem in the county.
His comments came after the council’s transport, environment and community services committee organised a two-week zero tolerance campaign against litter.
Enforcement officers recently patrolled streets in Thurso and Wick to issue penalties to anyone who was caught littering.
At the end of the initiative, only one person in Wick was fined for throwing a cigarette end onto the ground, while there were no fines in Thurso.
Mr Coghill, who is a member of the TEC services committee, said the low results gathered in both towns were encouraging. But he called for the initiative to be longer than just a fortnight.
“It is very positive that only one person was fined in Wick,” he told the Groat. “However, like everywhere else in Scotland, there is a severe problem with littering in Caithness.
“Only this week someone had dumped a large amount of rubbish in a lay-by on the outskirts of Halkirk. It was obvious that the offenders were a young family as the rubbish included empty baby bottles, milk formula cartons and containers with dirty nappies in them.”
He added: “What was most disappointing is that there are public bins and recycling centres all across the county where it could have been disposed of. Instead of driving to one of these facilities, they drove into the countryside to dispose of their rubbish.”
Mr Coghill said there have been a number of fly-tipping incidents which have been reported this year.
He thinks enforcement officers should be left to patrol the streets for a longer period of time to enforce a harder line on the issue.
“It is a question of getting the required amount of manpower for it to be effective. You only have to look at town centres in Caithness and see the amount of people outside doorways who drop their cigarette ends on the ground.
“All ages are guilty of dropping rubbish, but if we can get the message in to young people about disposing litter correctly, it may make a difference.”
The two-week campaign was implemented at 11 towns across the Highlands.
A total of seven people were fined which included four in Inverness and one each in Aviemore and Dingwall.
Each offender was fined £50 under the Antisocial Behaviour Scotland Act.
TEC services chairman John Laing believes, as a result of the initiative, the message is getting across to people not to drop litter.
He said: “The recent campaign was the third in an ongoing series to crack down on littering in line with our zero tolerance policy. Feedback gained by our enforcement officers suggests the public are more aware of the penalties for dropping litter and the need to keep their communities clean and tidy for the benefit of residents and visitors alike.”
The zero tolerance initiative is set to return to Caithness in September when it will focus on reducing the amount of chewing gum dropped on pavements.
