Margate baker creates posters encouraging people to bin their rubbish

When Thanet’s beautiful beaches were recently left covered in mounds of rubbish with shocking images of filthy litter strewn across the Main Sands and beyond many wondered what could be done to stop it.

Now, Margate baker Ben Wykes has started displaying posters around the town in a bid to encourage those to take responsibility for their actions and dispose of their waste.

Ben, who owns Modern Provider in The Centre, says he wanted to do something constructive in response to the problem which has infuriated many. He said: “I made a quick poster and decided to get it up around Margate and in as many shop windows along the seafront as possible. I am not in anyway thinking that this magically solves the problem but I felt like I needed to do something other than moan and / or rant about the Council.”

The new poster

He added: “Feels to me like beach cleans and litter picks are all amazing and help so much but really the problem needs to somehow be stopped in the first place rather than cleaning up after it. A unified message across the town could be really strong and simple and noticeable. The current official information signs around are really dense with text and hard to really notice. Anyway, TDC have been in touch and have a chat / meeting with them next week so that at least is a positive step. I still think huge unmissable banners around the seafront could help, and have already proposed this to the council.”

Dumped rubbish Photo Frank Leppard

If anyone wants a poster they should contact Modern Provider and The Margate Bookshop

14 Comments

  1. no matter how big your sign sadly it is a sign of how people are
    locals included in this equasion here

    the council left the rubbish overflowing over night which to me is wrong they know the beach was full and so should have collected it all during the day and night cleansing did this happen NO
    there is nowhere to sit and eat during lockdown so it is bring your own food but you tell those coming here
    it was nice to see people here but leaving their rubbish was not a good sight we all can say that
    an entrance fee of £20 to use our beaches should be used for anyone locals or not yes we are all to blame for plastic in the sea and well shitting on the beach is another matter
    time to charge people to use our beaches with a turn style and more litter patrols and people collecting rubbish
    I am outraged still how pathetic the leader was and is and Steve Albon and Gavin Waite and Madeline Homer this is your jobs to manage but you failed this town again

    resign please

  2. You are wrong, Rebecca Hooper. We are not all to blame for plastic in the sea. Why on earth should local residents have to pay for using local beaches?

  3. You will never stop people from littering, untill there are officers dishing out hefty fines, if you can be fined ( like myself) £80for dropping a cigarette but, I would suggest a fine of £250 for the disgusting littering of the parks- beaches.

  4. Rebecca. We all understand you are a keyboard warrior. But, for heaven’s sake, sort your grammar out.

    • I cannot agree that notices will help when bins are already overflowing at 3 in the afternoon. Also, no bins on the beach itself does not help the indolent.

  5. An article in footnotes from 2018. I expect if I looked I would find similar from 2017,2016, 2015 . . .Quote: ” There is a lot to be done here, but it is equally clear that Margate and Cliftonville (and the surrounding areas) have a voice, and that this is a voice that is loud and angry and raised in a battle cry.”

    Quote: “The people who I communicated with during the completion of this article, made it clear to me that they want to live in a town that they are proud of, a town where they can welcome visitors to, a town where they can set up home. ”

    The suggested solution is: “Invest – Bring in more road sweepers. Invest in additional bins, provide improved recycling areas, provide training for service providers, education for service users. ” That is the same solution ( plus more frequent and timely emptying ) being suggested over and over again in EVERY SINGLE DISCUSSION about waste that I have ever engaged in. https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2018/07/12/rachael-anderson-how-do-we-end-the-rubbish-crisis-in-margate/

    • Ms Strachan – the problem, particularly with the beach, has been going on far longer than that !

      Every year for the past decade I have berated TDC regarding rubbish and parties on the beach.

      The problem is yet to be addressed and resolved.

  6. After seeing the disturbing scenes of block raves and street parties in other parts of the country Thanet have got off lightly so far. TDC do not deliberately go out at night dropping rubbish everywhere. The people using the beach do that. Still think best plan is to employ young people as beach wardens, greeting visitors, answering their questions, touring beach collecting rubbish from visitors and reminding visitors where bins and toilets are. Five mile rule would also help until we are Covid-free.

    • Ms Probert – you will be surprised to learn that certainly Margate Main Sands has a “beach warden” who is employed to do exactly the job you suggest. He is supposed to distribute refuse sacks to beach users and he is supposed to make hourly announcements over the PA system to remind beach users to take their rubbish to the prom and not to have barbecues.

      However, in reality, that does not happen. The only announcements that are made are between 5pm and 5.30pm telling beach users to return their deckchairs, sun beds, etc. (so that the deckchair concessionaire can pack up and go home).

      • It has been said that the role does not exist anymore. However, I have heard the announcements re returning deckchairs . Maybe the concessionaire could be persuaded to make occasional announcements, or the lifeguards ?

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