Report to Aberdeenshire Council

The following formed the basis for setting up the Aberdeenshire Litter Initiative ALi.

Executive Summary:

The Aberdeenshire Environmental Forum Litter Initiative aims to encourage the general public and participant groups to adopt a street and become litter allies. The Initiative offers a delivery vehicle for Aberdeenshire Council's Community Planning agenda, encompassing Community Wellbeing and Sustainable Environment, Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy and Community Safety partnerships. The outcomes will be to promote litter prevention and deliver cost savings to Aberdeenshire Council over time through fostering litter prevention and community engagement.

Extract of Indicative proposal already accepted by the AEF

'Essentially, the scheme will seek to harness the goodwill of ordinary citizens in enlisting them to keep a section of street /pavement /grass verge public space etc., clean. There are plenty of examples of such Adopt - a - Street schemes throughout N. America.
There are many public spirited citizens doing this already and in the first instance we would wish to recognise and acknowledge that effort which already takes place and then to build upon it. As I envisage it the scheme (can anyone think of a good catchy name) should be run by the Council in conjunction with the Forum
Participants would undertake to keep an area of their choosing free of litter at a frequency that would suit them. In return the Scheme will provide them with training on safety issues plus a yellow safety vest, a litter picking stick, disposal gloves for hygiene purposes and if required a supply of black bags. Once per year, the registered participants would be invited to a small reception hosted by their Council Area Committee Chairperson as a small token of thanks for their public spirited contribution to the community.'

The above indicative proposal has been accepted by AEF. At his presentation to AEF on 11th October 2006, Cllr Martin Ford indicated that he believed that the Council would be supportive of such a community based initiative.

Proposal Outline

Members of the public would be encouraged to 'adopt' a designated area of their choosing and keep it free of litter at a frequency also of their choosing. It is envisaged that the Initiative would cover all of Aberdeenshire and operate throughout the year. It would seek to include those already doing their bit in an unsung way and use that positive example to enlist more individuals, groups, businesses and organisations to help restore a sense of civic pride. It is possible that the Initiative could take a proactive role in promoting litter awareness and prevention measures. This may extend to the supporting of measures in terms of litter enforcement.
It is also anticipated that participants would be empowered to report 'other' community issues such as repairs, graffiti, or the need for servicing of Council 'bring' recycling bins etc for action by the appropriate authority.

Benefits

The Initiative will deliver tangible results under the Community Planning themes of Community Wellbeing and Sustainable Environment that will be visible to the public.
The Initiative is also consistent with the Community Planning partnerships governing principles of:

  • Inclusion
 The Initiative will facilitate direct public involvement in community improvements and encourage greater community and environmental awareness among residents.
  • Accountability
  • Evidence Based
  • Efficiency
 As a project linked to the Council's broader Cleansing and Waste Management services, the Initiative will support greater transparency in service delivery with quantifiable and publishable results. It also has the capacity to deliver cost savings over time through fostering litter prevention and community engagement.
  • Partnership
 The Initiative will involve partnership working between a number of key partners.
  • Sustainability
 The involvement of the Community and encouraging individuals to both respect and care for their communities is a key tenet of sustainability; so too is encouraging a move away from littering to litter prevention and recycling.

Participants

  • Individuals, singly or in families
  • Recognised groups, traders associations, churches, gardening clubs etc.
  • Amenity Groups e.g. Ythan Partnership, Marr Area Partnership
  • Businesses
  • Schools either individually or as part of Eco Schools
  • Youth Groups, Scouts, Guides
  • Neighbourhood Watch Scheme members
  • Community Wardens
  • Community Police

Partners

(suggested)
  • Aberdeenshire Environmental Forum
  • Aberdeenshire Council
  • Keep Scotland Beautiful
  • Grampian Police
  • Community Councils
  • Area Partnerships
  • Scottish Environment Protection Agency
  • Commercial Sponsors
  • Media Organisations

Partners, Champions and Allies

The Initiative is designed on the principles of a Community Partnership of interested organisations working together to address a community based issue. In addition, it seeks to empower the individual to accept and take responsibility for their own actions and by setting an example; hopefully they will encourage a positive change in the behaviour of others.
The litter collection element of traditional Cleansing Department services, act to re-enforce the inconsiderate behaviour of members of society by constantly clearing up after them, day after day, year after year. This is at some considerable cost (c.£77M p.a. in Scotland) which is particularly galling to those of us who do not drop litter. That money would be better spent on other positive services.
By adopting the Scottish Executive Initiative of Do A Little - Change a Lot, we can hopefully stimulate the sometimes dormant civic pride in the population by setting an example and thus modify the behaviour of the significant number of people who still drop litter. Many of those people drop litter without thinking of it as a crime or an offence to the environment and beauty of Aberdeenshire and Scotland.
To spread the initiative, we need Champions across the length and breadth of Aberdeenshire. To make it work we need allies -- Litter-Allies who will literally - Pick a Piece of Paper Per Person which is of course alliteration.
Accordingly, we will have Partners from organisations, supporting Champions across Aberdeenshire, to encourage each Litter-Ally to take part.

Practical Issues

  1. Managing the Initiative and keeping the data which will be required up to date, is a significant task above and beyond the capabilities of a voluntary organisation. As a fundamental aspect of the initiative is a simple undertaking by participants to maintain an area free of litter on a frequency that they are comfortable with, there is a need to maintain a spatial record system to avoid overlaps and to assist in identifying gaps. This would best be kept electronically based on a GIS system. The Council has such facilities and would be best placed to provide the staffing resource required to maintain the system. It is likely that there would be a staffing resource implication for the Council.
  2. There is a need to offer to participants, protective equipment in the form of a litter picking tool, Hi Viz safety vest, disposal rubber gloves, and a supply of sacks. The Council already give support to volunteers willing to do clean-ups in their area. This is linked to the traditional Spring Clean Campaign promoted by Keep Scotland Beautiful although as with KSB a clean up can be organised and will be supported at any time of the year.
  3. There will be a requirement to consider the legal and Health & Safety implications of such a proposal. It is possible that safety information could be produced and some training given. It may also be necessary to have participants sign some form of disclaimer covering their participation in such activities. It may also be possible for insurance cover to be provided. The Council have legal, Health & Safety and Insurance specialists on their staff that no doubt could assist in producing such information. After all, if it can work in North America, the most litigious society known, then it surely can work here on the basis of supported voluntary action. Examples of such documentation have been obtained from East Lothian Council and are appended herewith for information.
  4. It is also suggested that participants in the initiative should receive recognition by the Forum in the form of a version of the Green Butterfly Award. Individuals could receive the Green Butterfly lapel badge and organisations could receive the plaque which could be displayed on their premises to indicate their support and participation in a local environmental initiative. These awards could be issued at the annual reception held by the Area Committee Chairperson.

Costs

  1. There undoubtedly will be costs incurred in operating the initiative. The partners and the participants would be expected to contribute on a no charge basis, although contributions to costs would be welcomed from any or all sources.
  2. The actual costs have still to be identified and will, to a certain extent, be determined by the scope of the project and the scale of the take up within the community. Costs for provision of equipment are likely to reduce in future years after the initial implementation of the Initiative.

Sources of Funding

  1. It is suggested that principal funding for the initiative should come from Aberdeenshire Council who in statutory terms (Environmental Protection Act 1990) are the Principal Litter Authority for the area with responsibilities for street cleansing. The efforts of the initiative will assist the Council in complying with their statutory duty in this and other Community related respects.
    In improving environmental and quality of life aspects of Aberdeenshire the Initiative will contribute to tourism and to encouraging inward commercial investment. It will also allow the Council to concentrate their efforts on the high profile littered areas such as town centres and arterial roads.
  2. The cost of the annual 'recognition of contribution' event could be funded from within the existing budgets allocated by the Council to the six Area Managers.
  3. The Initiative should not ignore the potential for commercial sponsorship to provide a source of income.
  4. The resources of the various partners should be utilised to identify potential sources of grants and other external funding.

Initial Investigations

Initial and informal investigations to date have indicated a high degree of support for the proposal both from Forum members and from ordinary members of the public many of whom have indicated that they are already clearing litter from the vicinity of their own homes.
Discussions have taken place with John Summers, Chief Executive, Keep Scotland Beautiful and his staff who have offered encouragement and support for the initiative.
Councillor Jenny Watson Vice Chairperson of the Infrastructure Services Committee of Aberdeenshire Council has indicated her encouragement on the basis of the above outline.<

As indicated above Cllr Martin Ford gave a positive indication on hearing of the proposal in broad outline.
A local business involved in street cleansing and waste management, Alpha Plus Group, has indicated their support.
The proposed initiative engenders a consistent positive response and support throughout the Community.

Recommendations:

  1. Aberdeenshire Environmental Forum would ask that this report be placed before the Infrastructure Services Committee of the Council and any other appropriate group, to seek their support and agreement for the partnership initiative on the basis outlined.
  2. It is suggested that the Initiative be launched/announced at the Keep Scotland Beautiful - People and Places, Annual Conference on 27-28 February 2007 or, as part of the launch of the Keep Scotland Beautiful Spring Clean Campaign for 2007 on 1 April 2007, in an attempt to gain the maximum publicity.
App 1. Code of Practice & Volunteers' Agreement

Download Adobe Acrobat ReaderPortable Document File (PDF) Format
Some documents (in Portable Document File (.pdf) format) may require you to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader. You will need to have this software resident on your own PC to view the document files. Please note that the files required are quite large and may take some time to download over a modem. Be sure also to have enough hard-disk space available both for the download and the installation.