Join an army of beach cleaners across Brighton and Hove (From The Argus)

It's going to be very hard work using a broom to sweep litter off the beach.

get the council to clean the beaches what do we pay them for.I counted 6 street cleaners the other day between west st and the brighton pier walking along not doing anything just enjoying the sun and views

Hovite wrote:
It's going to be very hard work using a broom to sweep litter off the beach.

At least the pebbles will be shiny.

reddogs wrote:
get the council to clean the beaches what do we pay them for.I counted 6 street cleaners the other day between west st and the brighton pier walking along not doing anything just enjoying the sun and views

Good attitude. The world would be a much better place if there were more people like you eh?

Make street / beach cleaning mandatory for benefit claimants. Also where housing benefit is claimed ensure that associated gardens and outdoor spaces are maintained to exceptionally high standards.

Surely not! wrote:

reddogs wrote:
get the council to clean the beaches what do we pay them for.I counted 6 street cleaners the other day between west st and the brighton pier walking along not doing anything just enjoying the sun and views

Good attitude. The world would be a much better place if there were more people like you eh?

What is wrong with their attitude? They (we) are paying for a service, and are not receiving it. Surely everyone has a right to complain about that?

No wonder the world is such a bad place...Its attitudes like yours that have allowed governments to get away (literally) with murder. As you just accept it, and don't take a stand!!!

The Green Party apparently base their policies on environmental matters, however now they are in the privileged position of heading their first council they have not taken the proactive responsibility of keeping the beaches clean. Has it been forgotten that manmade rubbish and plastics left on the beach KILLS sea life and the ecology of the planet.

Greenpeace will be well happy seeing dolphins and whales beaching themselves from inhaling plastics washed out to sea from Brighton beach.

It would seem that this should be the primary goal and the Greens should lead by example by employing the manpower, whatever the cost, to keep our coast clean. Why is this responsibility being given to volunteers?

The Greens should practice what they preach and the beaches should be of primary interest to them. Instead of advertising the Green Party and its policy, it has been left as a marketing opportunity for Asda.

My question to the Greens is how green are they, and are they any more green than any other party?

Hovite wrote:
The Green Party apparently base their policies on environmental matters, however now they are in the privileged position of heading their first council they have not taken the proactive responsibility of keeping the beaches clean. Has it been forgotten that manmade rubbish and plastics left on the beach KILLS sea life and the ecology of the planet.

Greenpeace will be well happy seeing dolphins and whales beaching themselves from inhaling plastics washed out to sea from Brighton beach.

It would seem that this should be the primary goal and the Greens should lead by example by employing the manpower, whatever the cost, to keep our coast clean. Why is this responsibility being given to volunteers?

The Greens should practice what they preach and the beaches should be of primary interest to them. Instead of advertising the Green Party and its policy, it has been left as a marketing opportunity for Asda.

My question to the Greens is how green are they, and are they any more green than any other party?

Mr Truman ask your colleague Mr Keenan for the photo he has of overflowing bins at Asda.Was pressure put on them by the Argus?

monkeymoo wrote:

Surely not! wrote:

reddogs wrote:
get the council to clean the beaches what do we pay them for.I counted 6 street cleaners the other day between west st and the brighton pier walking along not doing anything just enjoying the sun and views

Good attitude. The world would be a much better place if there were more people like you eh?

What is wrong with their attitude? They (we) are paying for a service, and are not receiving it. Surely everyone has a right to complain about that?

No wonder the world is such a bad place...Its attitudes like yours that have allowed governments to get away (literally) with murder. As you just accept it, and don't take a stand!!!

Don't be ridiculous. How is posting a comment here taking a stand? Silly man.

I regularly use the beach at Saltdean and I have never, in ten years, seen anyone leave litter behind. Maybe this is because it's used mainly by locals including central Brighton residents who want things a bit quieter. Also, it doesn't have fast-food outlets along its coast, but how anyone can be such an anti-social uncaring slob as to litter a beach is beyond me.

One more thing, the worst I ever saw was when I was on the pier, looking down onto the beach. Among a group of scruffies, there was a young mother who changed a baby's full nappy and then proceeded to chuck it aside, unwrapped, and walk away. People nearby objected and were threatened. Nice!

Ultimately the fault does not sit with the cleaners or the council. It sits solely with the selfish people who sit on the beach and refuse to take their rubbish with them.

I am sure the street cleaners are busy cleaning up after the same people who can be bother to put their rubbish in a bin when they are walking along the street.

The beach clean up is a great way to do some good. God knows you may even have some fun getting involved

Is this going to be a monthly event? It was only last month The Argus were appealing for volunteers to help S.A.S clean the beach. On the spot fines is the only way to solve the problem with the revenue going toward paying for more street cleaners, the same as you do with parking wardens

This is a splendid initiative that could be extended to save the Council £350,00 to £500,000 a year by getting local resident volunteers to clear up after the travellers. There then wouldn't be need to have a dedicated contractor for the task.

Boston Boy, yes the problem is instigated by selfish people, but the ultimate responsibility lies with the local authority.

The council cannot turn a blind eye to the beach rubbish and not take responsibility, this is more than rubbish, and this contributes to global pollution.

Our beach has to be professionally managed daily, and not left to the good intentions of volunteers to do a couple of days cleaning each year. What about the other 363?

This isn’t just about clearing the rubbish to make the beach look pretty; this is part of the global pollution problem. I would have thought that the Green Party would have been up to date and taken on this issue a priority by setting up a department specifically designed to tackle it.

By all means work with local volunteers, but don’t depend on them.

Its a great pity that such an initiative has led to so many vile comments on here and just goes to show that these things should be left to the council to deal with.

Good to see we at cityclean have our lovers and haters! reddog I'll wager your the type of person who drops rubbish with the attitude of " I pay my taxes so the council can clean it up!" Now bear in mind there so few of us compared to people visiting the beach and city! We can only do so much! If people used the bins we provide or took their litter home it wouldn't put us out of work it would greatly assist us! i work both the beach and city and see people blatantly drop litter next to bins or in front of us! The minority of public need educating !! bet their homes aren't strewn with litter so why do it outside!!!!

Hovite wrote:
Boston Boy, yes the problem is instigated by selfish people, but the ultimate responsibility lies with the local authority.

The council cannot turn a blind eye to the beach rubbish and not take responsibility, this is more than rubbish, and this contributes to global pollution.

Our beach has to be professionally managed daily, and not left to the good intentions of volunteers to do a couple of days cleaning each year. What about the other 363?

This isn’t just about clearing the rubbish to make the beach look pretty; this is part of the global pollution problem. I would have thought that the Green Party would have been up to date and taken on this issue a priority by setting up a department specifically designed to tackle it.

By all means work with local volunteers, but don’t depend on them.

Prevention rather than the Cure!

Exactly rolivan, firstly educate this issue and the global butterfly effect from Brighton beach pollution through our local schools. Killing dolphins and whales is a simplified but hard hitting example that most with a heart would have instant empathy with. At least the local users of the beach will become environmentally aware.

Then place look after our beach environment signs at Brighton station, the car parks and all pedestrian ways all the way down to the beach for the day trippers and tourists. You should also have beach awareness crews carrying signs and talking to beach goers in the peak season.

However, it is not my job to come up with ideas to tackle this issue, it is the local authority, and being a Green council I am really surprised that they didn’t assigned a post dedicated to this issue when they first came in. If it helps though, the Green party are welcome to use my ideas on the matter and to remind them of what they originally stood for.

brightonstreetcleane
r, yes I understand, and it must be frustrating seeing people litter in front of you. I would be happy endorse the use of taser guns in these cases.

'brightonstreetclean
er', I totally agree with you, but I fear that it's a large minority that is disgusting enough to drop food and litter on the beaches and around the city, and you ought to visit some of the council estates, and see the unbelievable state of a lot of their front gardens, so yes, some people are like it at home too!

Yobs sentenced to community service can be made to spend it picking up rubbish. And ... ban beach fires.

Surprising that a GREEN Council is content to let the beach turn into a tip. Maybe it's because no furry animals live there?

MuammarQaddafi wrote:
Yobs sentenced to community service can be made to spend it picking up rubbish. And ... ban beach fires.

Surprising that a GREEN Council is content to let the beach turn into a tip. Maybe it's because no furry animals live there?

Actually more are living there every day...they are called RATS and are now a regular sight by the Arches in Brighton.......UGH!

If people didn't throw litter everywhere the council would have more money to spend looking after old people or improving other services or give us all a council tax discount. These people who throw litter around should be fined! Give PCSO's the power to hand out street fines for littering!

The Green Party should first of all employ wardens to patrol the beaches and catch and fine litter louts. Then they should tour schools and use propaganda to educate kids- and their parents-against littering.
Only then can they go on to rid the town of the internal combustion engine.

the bottom line is if no one dropped the litter then we wouldnt have to pay for people to clean it up . These special public litter picking days everyone that people from all walks of life can collect rubbish and put it in a bin . It helps get over the problem of once something becomes rubbish u immediately have to throw it . U realise that it is ok to carry on you or in your bag , car , pushchair etc until u find a bin . There is only one place rubbish belongs and that is in bins to be recycled if possible

That's all very easy saying if no one dropped litter everything would be ok, call it the bottom line or whatever; in fact it is stating the blooming obvious.


The answer required is how do you stop the litterers in the first place?

There is a fine of £75 for dropping litter but the police are too busy or don't bother and PCSO's don't have the power to issue these fines. There is a large section of society who think its ok to drop litter and nobody is stopping them!

Hovite wrote:
That's all very easy saying if no one dropped litter everything would be ok, call it the bottom line or whatever; in fact it is stating the blooming obvious.


The answer required is how do you stop the litterers in the first place?

They can start by putting a 100 percent tax on Chewing Gum.Educate Children get them to make their Peers aware of the wrong they are doing.Get Offenders to pick up litter.
Twice a year have large bins placed Strategically so Householders can dispose of items, not everyone has a vehicle or financial means to pay for private rubbish collection.Get local Ward Councillors to organise litter cleanups amongst their Community.We all saw during the Royal Celebrations how communities can come together.KEEP BRITAIN TIDY.

rehara wrote:
There is a fine of £75 for dropping litter but the police are too busy or don't bother and PCSO's don't have the power to issue these fines. There is a large section of society who think its ok to drop litter and nobody is stopping them!

No one would litter in front of the police for them to be able to fine them. And it’s not necessarily the people walking along the front who are causing the litter, it’s the tens of thousands sitting on the beach who get up and leave without taking their rubbish.

We wouldn't be able to afford to employ that amount of police or litter wardens to stand over groups of people making sure they take their rubbish when they leave the beach.

Hovite wrote:

rehara wrote:
There is a fine of £75 for dropping litter but the police are too busy or don't bother and PCSO's don't have the power to issue these fines. There is a large section of society who think its ok to drop litter and nobody is stopping them!

No one would litter in front of the police for them to be able to fine them. And it’s not necessarily the people walking along the front who are causing the litter, it’s the tens of thousands sitting on the beach who get up and leave without taking their rubbish.

We wouldn't be able to afford to employ that amount of police or litter wardens to stand over groups of people making sure they take their rubbish when they leave the beach.

I often see people openly dropping litter, the other day I was on the beach and watched a group of people drinking a case of beers and as they finished each they threw the bottles on the beach and opened another. They were yards away from a bin but made no effort to hide the fact they were throwing them on the beach and some were smashing. Hovite- Your saying police never see people drop litter? Agreed they will only ever stop a small minority but would be sending out a message that its not acceptable!

Nice idea but this doesn't actually educate the people who drop the litter in the first place.
If litterbugs drop litter on the beach/park/street and then other people come and tidy it up for them it just means that they'll continue littering as they don't see the effect it has (i.e. leave a load of rubbish on the beach, come back the next day and the litter has gone so let's leave more litter on the beach as somebody else will tidy up after us).
I often think that the council should leave the beach and parks uncleaned for a week to show just how much rubbish is left by litterbugs. This might then give the litterbugs a bit of an eye-opener and they may start to take more care in disposing of rubbish more responsibly.
I guess though that ultimately this will only attract rats, seagulls and other vermin and probably not teach litterbugs the error of their ways.
Education and prevention is the key - from teaching kids in schools from an early age that litter should go in a bin and not on the floor. Ideally parents should also instill this ethos into their kids but as we all know parents aren't really up to the task of teaching responsibilities these days. Fines for littering should be more readily dished out - this could be as much of a cash cow as Brighton's parking charges!

You mean "come & do for nothing a job that should be paid for".
.
I don't really think so, do you?

rehara wrote:

Hovite wrote:

rehara wrote:
There is a fine of £75 for dropping litter but the police are too busy or don't bother and PCSO's don't have the power to issue these fines. There is a large section of society who think its ok to drop litter and nobody is stopping them!

No one would litter in front of the police for them to be able to fine them. And it’s not necessarily the people walking along the front who are causing the litter, it’s the tens of thousands sitting on the beach who get up and leave without taking their rubbish.

We wouldn't be able to afford to employ that amount of police or litter wardens to stand over groups of people making sure they take their rubbish when they leave the beach.

I often see people openly dropping litter, the other day I was on the beach and watched a group of people drinking a case of beers and as they finished each they threw the bottles on the beach and opened another. They were yards away from a bin but made no effort to hide the fact they were throwing them on the beach and some were smashing. Hovite- Your saying police never see people drop litter? Agreed they will only ever stop a small minority but would be sending out a message that its not acceptable!

Fines won't even stop a small minority.

Where were the Police when you saw these offenders, and if the Police were there none of the group that you use as an example would have thrown the bottles. So they wouldn't be fined and they would wait until the Police have moved on and then thrown the bottles.

Unless they are really stupid litter bugs don't litter in front of police and therfore will never be fined.

If people took their litter home or placed it in bins there would be no need for people to complain about the council not cleaning. Believe it or not it's not rocket science. It's an offence to leave litter but no one seems to care..

So are the Argus sending anyone ?

Really a Spring campaign,winters on its way !!!!!

brightonstreetcleane
r wrote:
Good to see we at cityclean have our lovers and haters! reddog I'll wager your the type of person who drops rubbish with the attitude of " I pay my taxes so the council can clean it up!" Now bear in mind there so few of us compared to people visiting the beach and city! We can only do so much! If people used the bins we provide or took their litter home it wouldn't put us out of work it would greatly assist us! i work both the beach and city and see people blatantly drop litter next to bins or in front of us! The minority of public need educating !! bet their homes aren't strewn with litter so why do it outside!!!!

i don't know if you or cityclean were working pride weekend but may i just say whoever cleaned up around the old steine,st peters church areas done a fantastic job,from a complete dump saturday night to nearly spotless sunday morning you all done a sterling job,well done

F in L wrote:

MuammarQaddafi wrote:
Yobs sentenced to community service can be made to spend it picking up rubbish. And ... ban beach fires.

Surprising that a GREEN Council is content to let the beach turn into a tip. Maybe it's because no furry animals live there?

Actually more are living there every day...they are called RATS and are now a regular sight by the Arches in Brighton.......UGH!

Uh oh ... now you've done it. Rat habitat! No doubt the beach will now be declared sacrosanct by conservationists.

Somethingsarejustwro
ng wrote:
Make street / beach cleaning mandatory for benefit claimants. Also where housing benefit is claimed ensure that associated gardens and outdoor spaces are maintained to exceptionally high standards.

Also, we could introduce chain-gangs of offenders - perhaps introduce a tariff of 200 hours cleaning services for every person found littering - and use the time walking the beach picking litter.

monkeymoo wrote:

Surely not! wrote:

reddogs wrote:
get the council to clean the beaches what do we pay them for.I counted 6 street cleaners the other day between west st and the brighton pier walking along not doing anything just enjoying the sun and views

Good attitude. The world would be a much better place if there were more people like you eh?

What is wrong with their attitude? They (we) are paying for a service, and are not receiving it. Surely everyone has a right to complain about that?

No wonder the world is such a bad place...Its attitudes like yours that have allowed governments to get away (literally) with murder. As you just accept it, and don't take a stand!!!

No, he's right. Too many people have the attitude that someone else should do things for them. It is not acceptable to drop litter just because somebody is (hopefully) being paid to pick it up. Rather like the Welfare State that should be the safety net, not the default position.

Despite what Maggie said there IS such a thing as Society.

Also if we, plus the volunteers, can all 'do our bit' then the Council will have more money to spend on other things rather than employing an army of people to clear up our more selfish citizens and visitors.

Hovite wrote:
That's all very easy saying if no one dropped litter everything would be ok, call it the bottom line or whatever; in fact it is stating the blooming obvious.


The answer required is how do you stop the litterers in the first place?

Snipers. That's the answer.
I'm no expert, but as a start I would position two marksmen/women on the Palace Pier to cover the shores to the East and West plus a few more on the Brighton Centre with extras drafted in on Bank Holidays.
Just imagine it - you've just polished off a happy meal with a half litre of coke and a Lambert and Butler. You get up to waddle back into town leaving your mess behind when, out of the corner of your eye, you notice some activity on the roof; a glint of sunlight reflects off a telescopic sight; you glance down and see a little, red laser-dot appear on your chest. You have to make a choice - retrace your steps and pick up your rubbish or stride into oblivion.
Believe me it wouldn't take long for word to spread.

bluemonday wrote:

brightonstreetcleane r wrote: Good to see we at cityclean have our lovers and haters! reddog I'll wager your the type of person who drops rubbish with the attitude of " I pay my taxes so the council can clean it up!" Now bear in mind there so few of us compared to people visiting the beach and city! We can only do so much! If people used the bins we provide or took their litter home it wouldn't put us out of work it would greatly assist us! i work both the beach and city and see people blatantly drop litter next to bins or in front of us! The minority of public need educating !! bet their homes aren't strewn with litter so why do it outside!!!!

i don't know if you or cityclean were working pride weekend but may i just say whoever cleaned up around the old steine,st peters church areas done a fantastic job,from a complete dump saturday night to nearly spotless sunday morning you all done a sterling job,well done

Yeah that was us in the st james area of pride, Thank you for the compliment. Pride is always one event we have wrapped up as everyone co-operates to get the area clean, not every day we get police and managerial escorts!! lol, As far as the beach litter goes it will always happen until the police or the council and get appropriate funding to enforce the litter laws, but I did like the idea of snipers on the pier ( very appealing!) , We will always get hit by a tidal wave of rubbish every summer, and I fear no matter how much we throw education at people to clean up when they leave, in this day and age it would be a waste of time, money and resources unless it was a shock style campaign!!

Half-man, Half-biscuit: "forgetting it is *people* who drop litter, not the council..."
.
I know that the street cleaners work very hard & do a cracking job. Churchill Sq is a total tip after Friday & Saturday nights, but by 7 the next morning it's spotless.
.
I totally respect our street cleaners. I have a "thing" in that I can't drop litter. I've tried, I dropped a tissue wrapper on the stairs of my block - it wouldn't blow anywhere & it was guaranteed to be cleaned up. Couldn't do it. Had to walk back upstairs & pick it up. Just can't do it & it really pi$$es me off when other people do.