Levels of littering in seaside village slammed by local councillor

The levels of littering and fly-tipping discovered at a seaside village of Pembrokeshire recently has been slammed by a local county councillor.

County Councillor for Saundersfoot’s South Ward, Cllr Chris Williams reported that throughout March he went out with ‘Team Littlefoot’ volunteers on a litter pick, and seemed to spend most of the walkabout collecting rubbish ‘thrown out’ by passing motorists onto the roadside around the area.

“This time we met near New Hedges roundabout and walked back to the farm shop on the Moreton Road - and it was incredible the amount of rubbish we collected and bagged up on the side of the road,” remarked Cllr Williams.

“Unfortunately, due to the amount of rubbish we had already collected we were unable to head down towards the railway bridge at Moreton due to a lack of rubbish bags. This was disappointing as it seemed that a van had pulled up on the side of the road and thrown out 10 large pieces of metal into the hedgerow that wouldn’t have fitted into a car.

“We also found smaller carrier bags tied up and full of rubbish that we believe were thrown out of a car window. Overall, we collected nine bags along with lots of other items that we piled up for collection.

“I would like to thank Nicky and the team at Pembrokeshire County Council who came out immediately to pick up the rubbish. I would also like to express a big thank you to all other groups and individuals who continually go out and pick up rubbish from the outskirts of the village. If there are areas of concern in the village, please let me know so we can arrange a clean-up,” he continued.

Whilst discussing the topic of rubbish, Cllr Williams also highlighted new public bins around the village with information attached, advising that bins are not for domestic or household waste.

He said that he had worked closely with his fellow Saundersfoot county councillor (for the North Ward) Cllr Alec Cormack with with the team at PCC, with regards to having new bins with smaller openings and information displayed to reduce the amount of fly-tipping that takes place, and the aim to stop ‘unscrupulous individuals’ from abusing the system within the village.

“We are looking at removing the bin on the Strand as it continues to be abused by the flats opposite and holiday apartments on a daily basis,” explained Cllr Williams.

“A double bin has been added at the end of the Strand which can be used by dog walkers and for general litter. I would like to thank Michael Davies of Saundersfoot Harbour for accommodating three new bins at the top of the slipway in the village.

“I’m also working closely and have a meeting arranged (this month) with licensing regarding trade waste agreements.

“We will be looking at a joint approach with letting agents and take-away outlets to ensure that they have the correct bags for collection and that their waste isn’t going into the public bins,” he added.

As part of a co-ordinated approach, Cllr Williams was mongst local county councillors who met with officers from PCC last month, to highlight more and more bins being abused, often by those leaving holiday lets, and also by residents dumping domestic waste in the facilities.

Cllr Williams recently said that he was astonished to find that an organised litter-pick of Saundersfoot one Saturday morning this year saw ‘an incredible’ 39 sacks of rubbish collected by volunteers, in just the space of a couple of hours, mainly from roads and lanes outside the village centre.

He also said a discussion had come up recently with Saundersfoot harbour staff, and he was shocked to find out that the harbour collects over 11,000 bags of rubbish annually!

“Saundersfoot is blessed to have a dedicated team who regularly keep on top of the bins and streets of the village,” remarked Cllr Williams at the time.

“It has become apparent however that a minority flaunt the rules and spoil it for everyone else. During the summer months there is a weight of two tons every day from the village bins.

“Unfortunately, some contaminate the recycling process which in essence, contaminates the whole bin.

“Numerous times locally, trade waste has been found when full bins have been ripped open to investigate. PCC staff have also caught local residents and holiday let apartments abusing the system.

“It’s not up to the local residents to pay for this service, it needs to be a joined up approach with all parties so every holiday home/holiday let is accounted for,” he continued, going onto say that he had recently challenged two persons emptying their waste into public bins.

“Both were on holiday with notes in their apartments telling them to place rubbish daily into the local bins.

“This is totally unacceptable for the local tax paying residents to have to pay for this service,” he remarked.