28 January 2011
Green District Councillors are calling for more to be done to stem the persistant problem of fast food rubbish being thrown from cars which ends up littering rural roads miles from the source.
In early 2010, Cllr. James Abbott (Green, Bradwell, Silver End and Rivenhall ward) suggested to Braintree District Council that an identification scheme should be investigated by which fast food packaging from the "drive-thrus" at Galleys Corner could be traced back to the purchasers.
Although the District Council announced later in 2010 that it had secured the agreement of McDonalds and other "drive-thru" outlets at Galley's Corner to initiate an identification scheme, a recent inquiry to the Cabinet Member Cllr. Wendy Schmitt about the scheme revealed that not only had no enforcement actions been carried out as a result of the scheme, but that the fast food outlets were apparently not carrying out the scheme which had been announced by the council.
In a response to a Written Question from Cllr. Abbott, Cllr. Schmitt stated as part of her response -
"To date, no enforcement action has resulted from a fast food packaging identification scheme in the Galleys Corner area.
Fast food establishments in this area (McDonalds, KFC) were approached in July 2010 as part of the Green Heart campaign to create a partnership arrangement with BDC to tackle the littering problem associated with their outlets. One of the initiatives arising from this partnership was the idea of recording vehicle registration details on a customer's receipt. If the receipt was then found at a later date then this evidence could possibly be used to help locate an offender.
However due to a number of operational factors, the aforementioned companies have found it extremely difficult to keep to this agreement.
Cllr. James Abbott said
"Last year Cllr. Schmitt said that BDC had the agreement of McDonalds and others to set up an identification scheme along the lines that we had earlier proposed. But it now turns out that McDonalds and KFC have not been carrying out the scheme.
We appreciate that other anti-litter measures have been carried out by BDC and we support the council in that work, but the fact remains that along many rural roads there remains a persistent litter problem - and it is McDonalds packaging in particular that continues to be seen on the verges, thrown out of cars along roads leading from Galleys Corner, including through Bradwell, Silver End and Rivenhall parishes.
It would be useful to know what are the "operational factors" that are stopping these companies from carrying out a scheme that was announced with a joint press event between them and the council and which we assumed until recently was being carried out.
So we are again asking for a full identification scheme to be implemented as we originally suggested so that all fast food rubbish thrown by customers originating from the "drive-thrus" at Galley's Corner that is thrown from car windows can be traced back to the purchaser.
It is unacceptable that year after year our rural areas are blighted by rubbish thrown from cars - and that fast food rubbish from local businesses makes up a significant proportion of that litter - that then has to be picked up by BDC staff, parish council staff and residents. It is costing taxpayers a significant sum of money every year as well as being an unsightly mess.
The fast food outlets need to take more responsibility and BDC needs to press this issue harder."
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