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10% of the 1,100 streets, roads and open spaces, surveyed in the 2019 Cleaner Neighbourhoods Report, had dog fouling present. This is an easily fixed issue by dog owners yet the results from this year’s Cleaner Neighbourhood Report show that dog fouling is as common on our streets as other types of litter. Results like this haven’t been this bad since 2015.

Although it is not all bad news as councils have started to uptake new engagement schemes to help them tackle the litter issue. Green dog walkers encourages dog owners to take a pledge to clean up after their dogs and encourage others to do the same. Businesses in some councils have started to make a commitment to move away from single use plastics and replacing them with more sustainable options. This is only a start but if everyone starts to make this change it should see great reductions in litter on our streets, roads and open spaces.

The impact that volunteers are making on the plastic problem is priceless. During the Big Spring Clean 553,571 volunteers got involved with cleaning up their local areas removing over 800 metric tons of rubbish. A further 20,640 volunteers got involved in cleaning up their coast line during clean coast week and through the adopt a spot programme 167 spots have been adopted to be cleaned 4 times of year. Education also plays a large part of making changes to the litter problem, with this 295 schools over a quarter of all schools, have now earned the right to fly a green flag, the pinnacle of the Eco-Schools programme.

In 2017/18 347 fixed penalty notices were issued to dog owners, resulting in fines of at least £50.

Dr. Ian Humphreys had this to say about dog fouling issue “Treading in dog fouling or wheeling your buggy through it is one of the most disgusting things that can happen when you are out and about. It carries serious health risks too, especially for children who can lose their sight simply because of a dog owner’s laziness. So the reputation of the vast majority of dog owners, who pick up after their pets, has been dealt a nasty blow by these latest figures. Our message is simple: pick up after your dog and put it in the bin. Or be ready to pay the fine.”

The report concludes with a number of recommendations for combating the litter problem for national and local policy makers. With Brexit decision time looming it is difficult to predict our legislative future. This is why it is important to scan for the UK, Ireland and EU legislation and consultations which have recently come through and see how they may help shape our future in tackling the litter problem.

You can read the full report at https://www.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org/

More resources than ever are being devoted to maintaining a clean and welcoming environment in Northern Ireland, according to the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

In a report published today, the environmental charity said that 2016-17 had seen a record £43Million spent on cleaning the streets. In response the year ahead will see nine of the eleven councils working together to tackle littering behaviour. Among other figures the charity highlighted was 233 groups ‘adopting a spot’ in order to keep it clean and inviting, and 24,500 children taking part in anti-litter education.

This intensification of efforts by Councils was welcomed by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful CEO, Dr Ian Humphreys, who said “The rising street cleaning bill, being met by ratepayers, is simply unsustainable. This is why many organisations are joining forces to change littering behaviour. Together we can begin to make a difference and this move is being supported by tens of thousands of volunteers who show they live here and love here through clean-ups. With over a third of the public admitting to littering we still have some way to go and so if we want a better place to live we all have to do our bit and get involved.”

While the year saw a slight rise in the percentage of places that were unacceptably littered, it also saw the biggest annual drop in the rates of dog fouling since their surveys began in 2008, and the highest percentage of spaces with no litter – not even a single cigarette butt – at 5%.

One of the surprising facts Dr Humphreys pointed out was that the availability of a bin appears to have little or no impact on the likelihood somewhere will suffer unacceptable littering: “Having a bin in sight in an area makes no statistical difference to how much litter ends up on the ground. This suggests that for many people bins are either deemed irrelevant or invisible. We need to change people’s mind-set so that they look for and use a bin, or take their rubbish home.”

The charity has made a number of recommendations that it believes would go a long way to achieving its vision of a cleaner country.

The charity says that fiscal measures should be explored further as part of a wider system of measures.

The development of programmes that reward desirable behaviour such picking up after your dog have been put forward as ways of preventing littering – like giving a vaccine rather than treating an illness.

Perhaps more controversially, the charity is suggesting that the government and Councils consider introducing American-style parking restrictions, where on-street parking is banned in a particular area for a few hours once a week to allow thorough cleaning; their surveys suggest that mechanical sweepers are regularly prevented from doing their job because of parked cars.

Dr Humphreys concluded “As the evenings lengthen and we look to spend more time outdoors we all want to enjoy spaces free of litter and dog fouling. To achieve this requires us all to do our bit and show we live here and really do love here.”

Around one in seven of Northern Ireland’s streets and parks failed to meet the accepted standard for litter during 2016, Environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful has said. This is despite Councils spending a total of £43,285,212 on cleansing during 2015-16; a rise of over 8% on efforts during the previous year.

Based on a survey of 1,100 sites across all of Northern Ireland, the survey shows that 15% of sites were described as having a “widespread distribution of litter with minor accumulations” or worse. The worst affected places were industrial estates, where more than one in three sample sites failed to meet the standard. By contrast, 99% of low density housing areas were rated clean or very clean, with 14% of those completely free of any litter.

Chris Allen, who manages the survey for Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said “It’s clear from the data that councils are struggling to keep pace with people’s irresponsible habits. They’re being forced to spend a totally unsustainable amount of ratepayers’ money – our money – on treating an entirely preventable problem. The average annual charge to every ratepayer in the country is around £58.”

One positive note within the survey was dog fouling, a perennial issue across Northern Ireland, but one which showed signs of improvement – sites with dog fouling dropped from an average of 11% over the previous 4 years to 6% during 2016. However, one in five sites in public parks still had dog fouling, and even 3% of children’s play areas. Amazingly, this is a significant improvement over the 2015 survey, when 10% of children’s play areas were observed to have dog fouling in them.

The survey also throws out some interesting specifics: Although a lack of a handy bin is often cited as a reason to drop litter, more than two out of three sample sites in city and town centres and other retails areas had at least one bin. Of all the retail sites that were considered unacceptably littered, 63% had at least one bin, with one site having four bins available – one approximately every 12 metres. In parks and play areas 85% of sites had a bin, including 81% of the sites that were unacceptably littered.

Councils are also investing in anti-litter education initiatives such as Live Here Love Here, a campaign supported by seven of the eleven councils, the Housing Executive and the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, as well as businesses like Coca-Cola and Choice Housing. Many Councils also run local initiatives directly in schools and communities.

Northern Ireland’s eleven Councils spent a total of £43,285,212 on cleaning our roads, streets and open spaces in 2015-16; a rise of over 8% on spending during the previous year. This expression of serious intent to clean up our streets and parks has however been somewhat blunted by a fall of almost 20% in the number of people actually caught and fined for littering.

The figures, which were gathered by environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful from Council financial statements and records of enforcement, show how hard councils have to work to hold back a tide of unsightly and harmful litter. To put the figure in context that £43 Million would pay the annual salary of 1,995 newly qualified nurses. The total expected cost of the new build Royal Victoria Hospital Maternity Unit is £46.2 Million.

Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said of the figures “Council staff work day and night to keep our streets clean but we spend more and more each year just to stand still. And research shows litter costs society the same again with losses to business and tourism and our health. That’s why most councils have now come together, with others, to deliver Live Here Love Here. This is building community pride and starting work on the real solution, which is to prevent litter being dropped in the first place.”

Many people will wonder where the money for street cleansing comes from, and the answer is that councils pay it from their rates, with the average annual charge to every rate payer in the country around £58.

At the other end of the bargain, the number of people actually caught littering has dropped by almost a fifth, from 4,443 to just 3,724. In addition, just 310 people were penalised for not clearing up after their dog last year. As Dr Humphreys points out “In a fair society the polluter would pay for the clean-up, but at this rate that would mean that the penalty for dropping a crisp packet would need to be over £10,000. Most people don’t drop litter. So we need to give the people who do litter a clear signal that their dirty, selfish behaviour is not acceptable. We all have a part to play in encouraging litterers to stop.”

The total raised by fixed penalties to be set against the cost of cleansing was just £191,530, less than half of one percent of the total cost.

The difference between Councils was stark, with over half of all fixed penalties issued in Belfast, but just 1% issued in Lisburn and Castlereagh. Dr Humphreys Welcomed Belfast’s approach, saying they had “grasped the nettle of penalising litterers for the good of everybody living and working within the Council area.”

Councils are also investing in anti-litter education initiatives such as Live Here Love Here, a media campaign supported by seven of the eleven councils, the Housing Executive and the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, as well as businesses like Coca-Cola and Choice Housing. Many Councils also run local initiatives directly in schools and communities.

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful is currently collating results of 1,100 surveys across the country to see if the additional money spent is having the desired effect and reducing the amount of litter on streets and in parks.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Chris Allen, Local Environmental Quality Co-Ordinator

Chris.allen@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org

028 9073 6921

Note to Editors

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful is an environmental charity working towards the vision of a beautiful Northern Ireland by inspiring people to take responsibility for creating cleaner, greener and more sustainable communities.

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful runs a number of awareness raising campaigns including the BIG Spring Clean volunteering and public engagement campaign, the Clean Coast programme which supports coastal volunteering groups. The charity also runs the Seaside and Green Coast Awards, the international Blue Flag (for beaches and marinas) and Eco-Schools programmes all of which set environmental quality standards.

Live Here Love Here is supported by The Department of the Environment; Tourism Northern Ireland; Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, Ards and North Down Borough Council, Belfast City Council; Derry City and Strabane District Council, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Mid and Est Antrim and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Choice Housing, the Housing Executive and Coca Cola.

Find out more about it at www.liveherelovehere.org/What-s-it-all-about.aspx

Figures used in this release

• Spending figures were collected from individual Council financial statements, which are available on Council websites

• FPN figures were provided by Councils in response to requests for the information

• A new nurse starting at band 5 on the pay scale will earn £21,692 pa. https://www.rcn.org.uk/employment-and-pay/nhs-pay-scales-2015-16

• The Royal Victoria Hospital estimated costs http://www.belfasttrust.hscni.net/pdf/1108__Annual_Report_14_to_15_final_copy_29_June2.pdf

• Cost to ratepayers based on projected figure of 744,800 households in Northern Ireland in 2015, source http://www.nisra.gov.uk/archive/demography/population/household/household_project.pdf