Calls for more bins to tackle littering

A councillor has called for more to be done to tackle littering in part of Norwich.

The Green Party’s Toby Bolton said the Wensum area of the city lacked “a good supply of bins”.

“There is an awful lot of litter, and you can’t see a single bin for someone to put it in anyway,” he added.

Norwich City Council, which is run by Labour, said it was “committed to maintaining high standards of cleanliness in the city, which is crucial for promoting pride in the community”.

Mr Bolton said litter caused people to feel “less connected” to the area they lived in, which made the problem worse.

He said: “If the city council was picking up those little bits, you probably wouldn’t get people thinking ‘oh there’s loads of litter here, it doesn’t matter if I throw mine as well’.

“We shouldn’t be reliant on the goodwill of people to do litter-picks.”

Local group, NR5 Community Hub, which took part in litter picks, said it recently cleared and redecorated a walking and cycle path that was known locally as ‘Dog Poo Alley’.

Funding from the council’s ‘Love Norwich’ scheme paid for a mural to be painted on the wall, with families and children helping with the work.

Lesley Speight, who volunteers at the hub, said people were now calling the path ‘Sunshine Alley”.

She told the BBC that the work had helped bring people together, but agreed that a lack of bins in the area added to the litter problem.

“If there’s not a bin to put your rubbish in, a lot of people think other people have thrown it on the floor, so why don’t I just throw it on the floor as well,” she said.

Earlier this year, figures showed that cases of fly-tipping had increased in Norwich.

A Norwich City Council’s spokesman said its teams worked “very hard” to help “residents and visitor alike feel good about their surroundings”.

“Last year, 91% of the streets we inspected were litter-free, and this year it’s up to 92%,” he added.

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