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A litter enforcement officer for East Devon?

  • by JW

A Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) scheme for Exeter.

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We have a problem with litter:

Litter on the beach – Vision Group for Sidmouth

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Cigarette butts are a real problem:

Campaigning for cigarette butt bins – Vision Group for Sidmouth

Bin your butt: it’s plastic! – Vision Group for Sidmouth

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And we need some good ideas on how to deal with this:

Broad reaching and bold thinking to deal with plastic waste – Vision Group for Sidmouth

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One such idea was trialed by Exeter, with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) scheme for litter enforcement in the city – on a no-fee, no-pay basis:

Litter enforcement – Exeter City Council

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It went very well as far as the officers were concerned, as reported by the East Devon News:

‘Litter police’ issue fines to over 1,500 people in Exeter during pilot project – East Devon News

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The council then decided to make this a permanent feature:

Exeter council to recruit enforcement officer to crack down on litter louts

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It’s not without controversy:

‘Litter police’ get bonuses to target public, Panorama finds – BBC News

Litter warden blows lid on Kingdom’s ‘underhand’ tactics and relentless pursuit of people to fine in Grimsby – Grimsby Live

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However, a government paper has looked at the issues:

Consultation Reducing litter

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Because, whilst there are regulations and bye-laws, they are not enforced due to lack of resources:

Byelaws and bad behaviour on the beach – Vision Group for Sidmouth