Thanet council will be changing its litter-picking schedule from next Friday (April 27) so that teams make rounds at hotspot areas twice a day at the weekends.
The news follows a high volume of complaints last weekend from across the isle about overflowing bins and litter-strewn streets.
Photos posted to social media included those of shocking mess at Viking Bay, Botany Bay, Dane Valley and Ramsgate’s Undercliff. Some residents have highlighted the need for more bins, including along Ramsgate Main Sands and the Undercliffe as well as Margate.
Residents and visitors were really let down by @ThanetCouncil this weekend. Every bin between Turner Contemporary and Nayland Rock was left overflowing. Our beautiful seafront is our greatest asset. So many visitors leaving with a terrible view of Margate #lovemargate pic.twitter.com/FQLAAlwHGE
— Love Margate (@LoveMargate) April 22, 2018
One resident said: “I do not think there are enough bins and there should definitely be bins on the beaches. Thanet council should have their litter police on the beaches, it would generate a lot of income. They could use community payback to get them cleared, then they wouldn’t even have to pay.
“People just don’t realise the impact their rubbish has on the beach and in the sea but if they got fined they would learn quickly enough.”
A Thanet council spokesman said there are more than 400 bins across the district – around every 200 feet.
52 x large 1100L public bins
240 x street and dog bins
120 park dog bins
The added a team was out at 6am today (April 23) dealing with mess on the beaches and emptying bins.
They said: “Our street-cleansing team works hard all year round to keep the beaches in pristine condition for both residents and visitors. It is always disappointing to see our coastline not given the respect it deserves. The team was out at six this morning clearing litter from the beach and emptying bins.
“We are improving our litter picking schedule and will be making changes this year so that crews are out twice a day on the weekends – early morning and late afternoon until 7pm, emptying bins along the prom and high footfall areas to try and mitigate against the volume of litter in the bins and on our beaches. This change starts on Friday 27 April.”
Cleaning and litter collections from beaches, proms and streets costs Thanet District Council £1.9m per year. Last year council staff collected over 5,642 tonnes of rubbish.
Will there be any improvements in the toilet cleaning in Viking Bay as well, please?
You have toilets? The ones in Margate are all closed.
Please can TDC just get more wheelie bins they will be used & it will reduce the risk of rubbish being blown onto the beaches and taken out to sea .
The times I see overflowing rubbish by Margate steps and people do put their rubbish by the overflowing bin – Seagulls come along and have a great feed and wind comes along and blows it into the sea to add to more sea pollution . Same things happens at Barnes Carpark. The cycle of a poor rubbish collection goes round and round.
Pkease TDC you have lots of people clearing up rubbish in a Volunteer capacity at least you can do us to provide the correct size bins?
It’s always like this in Cliftonville along the promenades with a lot of rubbish on the cliff edges that has lain there for years. Some streets don’t see cleaners at all for months at a time. Are there no supervisors that check any more?
The problem has existed at Margate for many years, every weekend that the sun shines and visitors are attracted to the beaches and promenades.
There is a mass exodus from the beach at 5.30pm when the deckchair concession closes and this leads to all the bins being filled at that time. However, a lot of visitors stay on if it is a warm or sunny evening and continue to leave their rubbish near the full bins where it is ripped apart by the seagulls.
The problem has been exacerbated by the removal of bins from the beach but insufficient large capacity bins on the promenade.
Clearly the bin emptying needs to be later in the afternoon/evening as well as more frequent.
Also in Dane Park, Margate. Yesterday I took my dog for a walk in the morning and she got distracted by a huge area of rubbish left behind from a large group (who I saw the day previous) who were having a BBQ. She ended up eating chicken bones & rummaging through various bags some of which contained what looked like clinical waste. While I think it is great people are using the park – people MUST make an effort to take their rubbish home/to a bin. Perhaps there needs to be more bins provided / designate picnic areas.
How many people do Thanet council have in a team, I saw one poor road sweeper in Broadstairs and the next day the same road sweeper in Ramsgate .Its a good job we have local volunteers
It’s not difficult. Sun comes out = thousands of people on the beach. They try to do the right thing and put rubbish in the bins bins but they are too small. So either larger bins and more of them or collect the rubbish mid afternoon on weekends.
TDC, please actually do this as after the weekends, public area’s always have overflowing bins and hopefully intact rubbish bags which the seagulls haven’t got to. One suggestion to the council would be to ask people in all areas of Thanet whether the bins that we currently have are sited correctly. Many seem to be in the wrong places!
The bins in broadstairs high street outside tesco and corner of albion street are overflowing EVERY afternoon , and too the ones on the promenade ! Come on TDC get this sorted PLEASE !!!
Of course the main problem is the human beings and I use that term loosely that see fit to dump rubbish on the streets rather than in bins or taking bags with you & then disposing of it at home as any civilised human being does and of course the dog owners who let their beloved creatures defecate everywhere & don’t pick it up. The only way this can be reduced is by TDC actually using the CCTV footage & enforcement officers to prosecute, but this never seems to happen.
Please can TDC reply to these comments as you would like us to pay more money for refuge collection but we need you to engage with us. Thank you.