There have been some concerns raised over the disappearance of the litterbins in the Park Area. We used to have 3, 1 Outside the Mace Shop in Lennox Street, 1 outside the Doctors Surgery and 1 in Raneleigh Road but now we have none. Concerned residents have written to various council staff about this and according to the powers that be this is as a direct result of “ abuse by some local residents depositing household refuse sacks into these bins and using the areas as impromptu refuse collection points”. However as there have never been any notices by these bins informing residents not to put household refuse in the bins, maybe it’s about time the bins were replaced, with some form of notice about their use, something that the local Forum had actually suggested some time in the past themselves.

Obviously the easiest way to clear up litter is not to drop it on the floor in the first place, but to put it in a litter bin. However as much of the rubbish we are seeing on the streets is the packaging from food products, drink cans, etc disposed of as the customer finishes the meal, it does make one wonder just how far they will carry their rubbish, until they give up finding a bin. And some of the residents in the Park District reckon they know the answer to that question as well!

We are concerned that with the lack of these bins, our Olympic visitors, or indeed any visitors who travel in by train, will look out of the train window and their first impression will be of litter all over the streets. There have been times over the past 2 weeks when I have been strongly reminded of what street life was like in the 1970's. And litter when dropped rarely stays in one place, especially when the wind blows. The next thing you know its moving its way onto the beach, the underpass, the swannery, the railway sidings, etc, and creating a greater issue there.

Equally there has also been an increase in the amount of dog waste in the streets and alleys. Are the 2 connected? Perhaps if the area had a dog waste bin there might be a way of persuading those who don’t, to start picking it up and disposing of it in a proper fashion.

The combination of Weymouth & Portland Borough Council and West Dorset District Council is now convinced that the bins are being used for household refuse rather than litter, and are now suggesting a 6 week trial period during which they will monitor the situation. The 6 weeks will finish at the end of June. They use the example of when they removed the bins from the Railway Station 3 years ago, the depositing of household refuse ceased within 3 weeks, (or maybe it just got deposited elsewhere?) If you have an interest in keeping the streets clean and presenting the rest of the world with an ideal view of Weymouth, perhaps you would also like to email/telephone or otherwise contact West Dorset District Council and pass your concerns onto Karyn Punchard – Streetscene Manager. Her email address is K.Punchard@westdorset-weymouth.gov.uk and her phone number is 01305 838226 . I am sure a petition is being drafted as we speak and this will be available to all shortly. In the meanwhile, if you find you are collecting more litter/rubbish from around the boundaries of your property, instead of just sighing, picking it up and putting it with your household refuse, perhaps it could be worthwhile phoning up the council and letting them know the problem has not gone away after all, if you have the ability to photograph the offending litter I am sure the council would be most interested in your images. It must be very difficult for one or 2 people to monitor the situation whilst keeping on top of all their other duties, so lets make it easier for them, by telling them what is being dropped and where. They cannot possibly monitor what we pick up to keep the streets clean otherwise.