Call for increase in litter prosecutions

Appealing for council officers to review the prosecution policies currently in operation, he said he was ‘disgusted’ when alerted to a beauty spot on the outskirts of the city at Prehen.

“A number of people from Newbuildings who would be regular walkers along the route said they had been horrified to find all manner of rubbish in the leafy lanes of Prehen. Concerned about the threat to the countryside and wildlife I took a walk myself and was disgusted to come across remnants of heavy drinking, broken glass and bottles, food containers, half-eaten fast food, condoms and even babies’ nappies. I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.

“All of this was on the footpath very close to the golf club and in an area where people would regularly walk for health and recreation. This type of dumping is simply unacceptable if we are to be taken seriously as a tourist destination with natural amenities, and certainly coming up to the UK City of Culture more needs to be done to pressure fly tippers and those with no regard for the countryside into having some respect not just for other amenity users, but for the natural wildlife and the environment.

“Just two months ago during the prolonged dry spell the careless disposal of glass bottles contributed to the starting of gorse fires and if we are to attract tourists to the city and the surrounding countryside then we need to respect all of our resources if we are to make a positive impact on the economy here, and that needs to start with us respecting our environment,” he said.

Calling on the Council to ‘get tough’ on litter louts, Mr Middleton said: “I will be raising this issue with the council officers and seeing what can be done to implement more stringent policies and fines on those caught for dropping litter and deliberately destroying the rural beauty spots, and I am calling on the council to be more pro-active in bringing litter louts before the court and imposing fines.”