More than £20,000 awarded to Newark and Sherwood District Council to help combat litter and fly-tipping on busiest roads

A grant has been awarded to Newark and Sherwood District Council to help combat litter and fly-tipping on some of the district’s busiest roads.

The £20,066 was awarded from the Litter Binfrastructure Fund, a grant scheme run by environmental charity WRAP.

At present, large 240 litre wheelie bins are installed in lay-bys along the major routes in and out of the district ­— the A1, A46, A616, A617 and A614.

However, these locations are magnets for fly-tippers and, given that one large single item can easily fill the entire bin, makes them unusable for their original purpose ­— litter, which then accumulates on the floor.

The grant allows the council to buy 54 bin housing units, to secure the roadside bins in place, with a smaller opening that will allow only litter to be placed in them.

Also, the current bins are liable to become loose, posing a potential danger being so close to a busy road.

Council leader David Lloyd said: “This is great news and a welcome funding boost that will amplify our environmental efforts even further.

“Newark and Sherwood is incredibly well connected on our road network and it is equally important to us, that those entering or leaving by vehicle are not greeted with lay-bys blighted by waste.

“We are committed to making Newark and Sherwood cleaner, safer and greener and will not stop our hard work doing so. In addition to the extensive investment and resources that we have put into tackling litter in our town centres, open spaces and parks, this grant will enable us to increase that activity further afield.”

The new lay-by bins will be installed from May.

The council’s anti-fly-tipping campaign, Not In Newark And Sherwood, has already led to a series of prosecutions, including three in three weeks last month.

Since the start of Cleaner, Safer and Greener in 2018, all town centre litter bins in Newark and Sherwood have been replaced with new and improved alternatives.

Despite the lockdowns, the council still forged ahead in 2020 with its litter strategy, having invested more than £12,000 on 66 new or replacement litter and dog bins within its parks and open spaces late last year.

To encourage more visitors to recycle, the council has installed five dual recycling and waste bins ­— two at Sconce and Devon Park, Newark; two at Vicar Water Country Park, Clipstone; and one at the Sherwood Avenue Park, Newark.

Residents can report issues of litter at https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/transactions/report