Column from Cllr Rick Everitt, Leader of Thanet council, talking about what the council is doing about litter, public toilets and parking:
Thanet District Council is working on an unprecedented number of major projects right now – aiming to restore and regenerate the Winter Gardens, the Theatre Royal, the Port of Ramsgate and the Clock House in the nearby harbour, to name just a few. We’re creating hundreds of new council homes for local people, on a scale unseen in decades. These are exciting initiatives, with potential benefits for the community right across the isle. But I want to reassure residents that we are still very much focused on the day job too.
You consistently tell us that you want Thanet to be cleaner – and so does the council. Your councillors are local residents who live in the same neighbourhoods as everyone else. A large percentage of our employees live here too. And we share your frustrations about litter and graffiti. We are committed, as one of our key council priorities, to addressing these issues. But we understand that when things do go wrong it’s easy to assume that the council doesn’t care or isn’t doing everything it can to improve things.
We want to do that for residents, first and foremost. But we also know that keeping our beaches and tourist areas clean and tidy is important to the visitor economy.
The fact that litter is something every coastal community struggles with or that we’re a small district with not a lot of money is no excuse. “Oh but it’s not just us” isn’t a defence and “It’s not the council leaving the rubbish on the beach” and “Why don’t people just take it home?”, while pertinent comments, aren’t solutions.
We recognise we have to do better and we are confident that we are – better than last year and the year before that. The trade off is that by setting the bar higher, by clearing the litter day in, day out, before it’s blown all over the streets or out to sea, it’s even more apparent when things go wrong.
We’re a small, quite densely populated coastal and sparser rural district with around 68,000 households and an unusually high number of beaches and bays. We have some pockets of very severe deprivation and not a lot of money. So while it’s not an excuse, it is important to put this situation into some context. We only get to keep around 12p for every pound our residents pay in council tax (about £5 a week for an average property) and with that we’re delivering about 30 different services. The most visible of these are domestic waste and recycling collections, followed by our street cleansing (which includes beaches and promenades) services. These services receive 14% of the entire annual council budget.
In the summer, our towns are buzzing with events and our beaches are some of the busiest and best in the country, we have four Blue Flags and 12 Seaside Awards. On a really busy day you could see us collecting 15 tonnes of waste from the beaches and promenades.
What the financial situation means is that we don’t have a lot of resilience. It’s likely there will be occasional days when circumstances – like the recent heatwave, which coincided with some day-to-day operational challenges – overwhelm us. If that happens we will recover the situation as quickly as possible, as I believe we did.
So the big topic is bins. We have loads of bins, right around the district, all different sizes, colours and more of them than ever before. We’ve got big purple 1100 litre bins all along the promenades, and there are over 100 additional general waste bins out this summer. That’s on top of the hundreds of bins that are there all year round, 731 of them to be precise. We’ve also added 30 extra large bins along the coast for mixed recycling.
We put stickers on them to ask people to take litter home if the bin is full and we put signs up to point people to other bins that are close by. We have tried putting a number of different things in place to make it really easy for members of the public to help us and put various systems in place to make it more efficient for our crews to do their jobs as well. Every year, we review how things have gone and make adjustments so that we can improve things for the following year.
Lots o
We are constrained by budget so we do have to be smart about staffing. As well as the cleansing staff picking up the waste, our Coastal Enforcement officers are out educating beach users, providing them with litter sacks and encouraging them to take their waste away.
As well as the new ideas we’ve put in place, we often get asked about the old ones. Such as ‘Why aren’t there bins on the beaches like they used to be, instead of them being up on the promenade?’ We haven’t had bins on the beaches for years. And we know that if we do, and people leave their rubbish next to them the seagulls have a field day and we end up with even more litter on the sand. On a practical note, it’s more efficient to be able to empty bins that are near the side of the road than it is to have staff dragging bins across the sand and up steps – it also has health and safety implications.
We use our social media channels to promote messages asking people to be responsible at the beach and take litter home, throughout the summer period. Our Education Officer works year round with community groups on a range of projects to help tackle antisocial behaviour and littering. You can find out more and about how you can get involved in a community litter pick on our website.
I also hear ‘What’s happened to the dog waste bins?’. So a while ago, we realised that it made more sense for all the general waste to be in one place, it means people with dog waste can put it into any general waste bin and that we just collect it as part of our usual rounds. There are over 600 bins in Thanet where people can place dog waste. Leaving a bag of poo where a bin used to be isn’t going to get a bin reinstated, it just makes the place look untidy.
This year, ahead of the summer season we gave toilets in eight locations a deep clean, replaced tiles, completed an overhaul of the plumbing and installed new energy efficient LED lighting. Where needed we’ve also undertaken roofing and window repairs. We are going to do more in the years ahead. We look after 28 public toilets and in the quieter areas we start closing them from 5pm. The six busiest ones don’t close before 7pm. We have looked at keeping them open later but the high levels of antisocial behaviour has made this challenging and we rely on a small team to lock up.
Finally, parking. Civil enforcement officers (parking wardens) are on duty throughout the day and into the evening to tackle illegal parking, especially at known hotspots. They work shifts and operate seven days a week. It’s not a popular job but it’s important to point out that their role isn’t to generate money for the council, it’s to try and ensure that our roads aren’t clogged up. Income from parking penalty notices can only be used for parking-related spending such as maintaining our car parks. Where the same problems occur year after year, we clearly need to look at what we might do differently there on busy summer days, and that is something we will focus on.
One of the issues our waste crews have is people parking in a way that means the vehicles we have can’t get down the street. If we can’t then neither can a fire engine, so it’s really important. Our CCTV control room links in with our Civil Enforcement team and Kent Police to help to tackle parking issues as they arise but ideally we’d all just park considerately.
Just to reassure you, we’re well aware of the blight of graffiti in our towns and we’re on the case. We’ll say much more about that soon.
There is a lot we’ve done but of course there is more to do. Unlike those big projects I mentioned, there won’t be a single moment when the ribbon is cut and the lights go on. Progress will be less dramatic and harder to assess. We’ll never completely resolve the problems, but you can be assured that we care, that we are constantly looking for solutions and that we are doing things differently and better.
You’ll continue to tell us if we’re not getting it right, and that’s exactly how it should be. But I promise that we are committed to making Thanet as clean and welcoming as we possibly can. That’s how we all want our home to be, after all.
about the graffiti so they are ” on the case ” , so what will they be doing – handing out free cans of spray paint ?
Unless they think it’s a Banksy of course. Two-tier enforcement.
Sorry Councillor Everitt,I spend a lot of time at other seaside resorts and Thanet is by far the dirtiest.It starts the minute you hit the TDC border.A drive down the A2,M2 and A299 and then you reach Thanet and litter is 10 fold more.It would also help if you swept the detritus full streets which act as compost for weed growth.I have driven past a decorators caulk on a roundabout in Ramsgate everyday for 3 years.There just arent enough bins compared to other seaside towns.TDC are partly to blame.
David, I have just come back from the ASDA Ramsgate store, and there are 3 or 4 empty takeaway boxes in Chatham Place. It looks like some idiots have had a Chinese and just thrown the boxes on the pavement, and my conclusion is, they just don’t care! This seems to be the prevailing attitude, that includes the idiots causing criminal damage with so called “Grafittie”. These are no hopers, who just don’t care, and they want to live in a 3rd world tip with filth and squalor all around them!
Ramsgate is not a town where there is “filth and squalor all around”.
LOL!
Spot on.
I live in Ramsgste, I walk through the town on a daily basis.
Sometimes there is rubbish in the street . Usually on bin days, when foolish people have put out ordinary black plastic bags full of food waste. The seagulls, foxes and wind do the rest.
Other than that, I can walk into town and back and other than the occasional can or plastic bottle, mostly I see our street sweeping guys doing a splendid job.
Try walking up Margate Road from the Viaduct! I have removed the mud guards from my mobility scooter because litter was always getting jammed in them!
So you’ll be opening the coastal toilets throughout the autumn and winter period as well ? Even on a weekend would be a vast improvement.
You will say you can’t afford it but I don’t mind betting it wouldn’t cost more than the 16% allowance rises you have given yourselves over the last 12 months.
Priorities.
Industrial levels of weeds,silted up drains,rust ridden metalwork,unswept roads and then the litter follows and then the graffiti.The standards set by this council are so low.Thanet actually looks like a refuse tip thats why idiots drop litter.I have lived in many places within a small constituency. They were all so much better kept.
I know you’re using exaggeration for effect, but Ramsgste (for one) does not resemble a rubbish tip.
Quote from the text “We’re creating hundreds of new council homes for local people” Councillor, please provide evidence they will be for local people, and not those who relocate in Thanet, either voluntary, or otherwise.
Because you have to be on the TDC Council housing list to be able to be allocated a TDC Council home.
Why do you empty bins during the daytime, in France they do it late at night so theres no traffic or parked cars in the way, also the coastal places empty them twice a day & jetwash the streets & the council taxes are half of the UK, also the bin men earn more money for less hours as they are more productive not sitting in traffic. On Tuesday nights you can also leave anything outside after 6pm, even large furniture etc & anyone is allowed to take what has been left outside before the truck arrives, this is Real recycling.
This country is a Joke!!
Feel free to go and live in France.
Unlike when people arrive here FROM France, moving there from the opposite direction is very expensive.
I’m fed up with TDC making excuses, 18 months I’ve been complaining about vehicles parking in my road on yellow lines on council verges, people not able to get in or out of their driveways because of parked vehicles ,l and others pay a lot of money to have the kerb dropped to get vehicles of the road so it keeps the road clear for others to park ,then they still block you in ,TDC had the yellow lines put down so police them all not just the same one’s.
Any news on the Ramsgate Madeira walk waterfall working again?
You admit dig bins were removed and advertised use litter bins
But in the places dog bins were
There are no litter bins
The deputy leader said the subterranean toilets ( closed for over a decade) were to be next after the newly painted ones were celebrated
Guess that means another decade
And no mention of the fenced off shelters
3 Years now
Litter is a 365 day a year problem not just a sunny day. Start charging for parking and put the money towards all our littered back strrets.Quite the most littered towns I have ever seen.
Maybe you should READ the article ‘ Income from parking penalty notices can only be used for parking’
Council leader Rick Everitt, why don’t you take the time to individually ask the council’s street cleansing and toilet staff about the issues with these poorly run services? They could offer valuable insights on how to improve them. Instead, you seem to only consult the overpaid, clueless managers who rarely leave the office. Why do you even have so many managers if your district is so financially strained?
Furthermore, have you looked into the reasons behind your high staff turnover? How many more excellent, hardworking employees will you allow your managers to fire or discipline for minor infractions? Don’t you realize that these very staff members, the ones you’re losing, are the ones who make you look competent and keep you in your job?
I’m sure your salary is at least ten times that of a toilet cleaner, yet they regularly face threats and violence on the job. Where are your enforcement officers when the public is littering and ruining my neighborhood? I’ll tell you—they’re either sitting at home or slacking off in the office. And why do your traffic wardens turn a blind eye to shopkeepers who park their cars and vans outside their stores all day without a ticket? Is it because they pay business rates? We, the public, also pay a substantial amount in Council Tax, yet we’re swiftly penalized for not purchasing parking tickets.
Rick, it’s time to seriously step up your game. Right now, it feels like you’re getting paid for doing very little.
Have you by any chance looked at what Councillor allowances are in Thanet?
Too much !
How much do you think he earns?
The one thing that Tory and labour has in common at tdc, is that they are all lying through there teeth. No truths about what goes on and if you question them they go quiet or try to make out that your causing trouble. As for housing they only got offered them because they were unwanted by associations ,, proves to many being built
The lack of street cleaning this year is noticeable. Last year the pathments and roads around West cliff looked pretty decent. This year the weeds have been left to grow and the pathments unsweept. The lack of clean pathments then leads to more weeds. I’ve ended up cleaning the pathment around my house myself. It’s the simple things that if they’re not done make the place look run down.
Between Dumpton Gap and Broadstairs the weeds are two feet high, growing underneath the benches on the promenade. It looks absolutely disgraceful, as does most of the parks and gardens work that is TDC responsibility.
It is similar in Birchington and Westgate.
I thought I read TDC had stopped using weed killer and started using hot foam. I wonder what happened to that idea? Even Brighton the most green council gave up on idea of hot foam. A petrol engine, running a diesel burner. On a petrol or diesel van. Very green. They really are useless.
You forgot the amount of water and extra man power and vehicles. The myth around hot foam being a green product is a joke
Thanet is a DUMP. I live in millmead road and there is always litter and dog mess all the time. Just come back from Bognor regis – And it is always so tidy and no litter no dog mess-Nothing-At all-Is this what i PAY my council tax for?Out off my hard earned money? AM disgusted.
I’ve visited the Isle of Man a couple of times, and the local council hose down bus shelters every day!
Nobody is forcing you to stay in Thanet. You keep announcing how unhappy you are here, on every article about Thanet. Why don’t you move there? I doubt anyone in the Millmead area pays any tax at all.
yes i would-I lived in thanet all my life-How nice it was in the 70s a 80s. The cinemas in Ramsgate pleasurama,Motor museaum golf for kids on the westcliff Boating pool winter gardens in margate. Not even a proper swimming pool. Crime going up-so yeah i would move away from this sad dump.
I bet you are fun at parties. There is a cinema at WWX, still have Dreamland, Crab Museum, Strokes Golf in Westbrook, boating pool in Margate. Unfortunately, some people are terminally miserable and cannot be pleased. Back in the 70s and 80s, people took responsibility for their own areas – they would pull weeds from the pavements at the front of the property and the paths given a quick sweep. Now everyone wants everything done for them.
A cinema, a crab museum (WTF) strokes golf AND a boating pool Wow, I had no idea there was so much to do in Thanet. That’s one afternoon taken care of.
And yes, I do want everything done for me. I pay £50 quid a week to TDC for sweet FA other than removing one bin each week, and that’s without the business rates I pay.
I’m sick of the continual pack of lies I’m fed about what TDC SAY they are doing instead of actually doing. I sit in queues of traffic day in day out with nothing better to do that look at the rubbish strewn streets around me.
Thanet is a toilet and yes, once retired I’m off. I personally can’t think of anywhere worse to live (well, maybe Manchester central),
Sack every single clock-watching jobsworth in the council and POSSIBLY rehire on a realistic wage (minimum) with terms of contact that can be enforced.
To complete the clean up we need to kick out every single councillor.
What do you call a bunch of useless, bottom-feeding, parasites who can’t even be bo0thered to answer an email….? A TDC council chamber.
You’ll have the opportunity to kick out the councillors at the next Local Election.
In the meanwhile, we can all look forward to your retirement and moving away to pastures new, where the Council Tax will be lower and everything in the garden is lovely.
Have to disagree Manchester is a lovely place. My home town. The home of the great football team, not that lot based in Trafford and just use our name.
I go home to most home games.
I agree thanet is a toilet but that’s be honest, it’s mostly the people who live here. These people are the ones that throw their rubbish on the floor, these are the people that do graffiti ( that the arty people don’t like ).
Like you I can’t wait to retire but unlike you I will be moving back to the Manchester area 🙂
And what happens if the weeds aren’t outside anyone’s property, i.e. the road bridge over the railway between Westgate and Garlinge?
Or Coffin corner
If only Thanet District Council put the same effort into proper planning, enforcement and keeping our beaches and streets clean as they put into PR to cover up their failures!
It would help if the bin men picked up bits of paper which fall into the road when they empty the bags and bins. Every time there is a trail of paper down the road after they have been.