New campaign launched to tackle littering in parks

More than half of the country’s parks have had to pull in extra resources to deal with littering and anti-social behaviour issues since lockdown was eased.

According to Keep Britain Tidy, of those, 81 per cent had to spend more on clearing up litter, 79 per cent on bin emptying and 72 per cent on maintaining public order or enforcing lockdown rules. Additionally, the 100 local authorities who responded to the survey said they had spent, on average, an extra £33,000 on managing parks in the past three months, with one reporting increased spending of up to £150,000.

To support parks staff over the long summer holiday period, Keep Britain Tidy and its Centre for Social Innovation has launched a new campaign under the umbrella of ‘Love Parks’.

Using behavioural insights that show people respond better to messages from individuals rather than organisations such as councils, the campaign features images of real parks staff and park users with quotes that talk about how anti-social behaviour makes them feel, with each one urging people to ‘be kind’ to their park.

Richard McIlwain, deputy chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “The UK was the birthplace of the public park and their value was recognised by many people during lockdown, as a haven of greenspace for exercise and relaxation. But, as lockdown measures have eased over the past three months, we’ve seen a significant minority of people abuse these treasured spaces, with shocking scenes of anti-social behaviour, leading to littering, deposit of human waste and abuse of parks staff.

“Clearly, effective and well-targeted enforcement will always have a role to play in curbing this behaviour, however, we also want to inspire people to look after our parks and the key workers who look after them. Hence, this campaign, which will be available to every local authority in the country and which is based on behavioural science, will act as an effective nudge to actively encourage people to treat our beautiful parks – and the amazing staff who work in them – with respect this summer.”

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “As the coronavirus lockdown has eased, the amount of litter being left in parks, green spaces and beaches across the country is unacceptable. I wholeheartedly support Keep Britain Tidy’s new campaign to tackle this issue. There is simply no excuse to leave rubbish behind, and councils can issue fines of up to £150 to those caught doing it. If you are unable to dispose of litter, then please take it home so you don’t destroy what you have come to enjoy.”

Gerald Vernon-Jackson, chair of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said: “Councils are working hard to keep parks and public spaces clean. Services have been disrupted during the pandemic but staff are determined to tackle a backlog of parks maintenance as they return from temporary redeployment to other areas, including supporting bin collections and helping shielded residents.

“Responsibility for clearing up litter lies with the person dropping it or leaving it behind. Councils need the public’s cooperation to help keep parks, green spaces and streets free from litter. Littering is always unacceptable – it is unsightly, tarnishes our local environments and council taxpayers are left to pick up the costs to clear it up. Councils run a range of awareness and clean-up campaigns, but fines can be issued to people who persistently ignore warnings.”