Tough seagull-proof bags are to go on trial in areas where the birds have been pecking their way through rubbish sacks.
Seven roads in the Eastcliff ward of Ramsgate have been selected for the trial: Arklow Square, Artillery Road, Augusta Place, Augusta Road, Balmoral Place, Shaftesbury Street and Truro Road.
Waste collection will continue to be provided in these roads on a weekly basis.
People across the isle have voiced concern that the litter which is pulled out of bags torn by gulls is blown around the streets.
In Augusta Road an action group was formed to combat the problem of street litter.
In all, 220 properties will get the new reusable sacks, and the pilot will run from February 2010 to September 2010.
The decision to implement the pilot scheme was rubber-stamped at Thanet council’s
cabinet meeting on Thursday last week.
It comes after the local PACT (Partners and Communities Together), residents’ groups and ward councillors raised concerns about the problem.
Standard black sacks will be put inside the new polypropylene bags and left out for binmen.
Residents will need to mark the bag with their house number and secure them to a fixed point or put a brick or other weighty object in them so they do not blow away.
Thanet council said the sacks were the option preferred by residents.
“This trial will tell us how effective the bags are at containing waste, how well the service is used and ways we can improve it,” said a council spokesman.
“The first bag will be provided free to each property, with one replacement free of charge per year.
“Advice from other councils, with similar schemes in place, indicates that the bags should last at least a year.
“If additional replacement bags are required, there will be a cost of £4.50 per bag to cover purchase and administrative costs.”
Mark Seed, director of environmental services, said: “We’ve already introduced the alternate weekly wheeled-bin system to almost 45,000 properties across Thanet, but there are a number of areas where it’s not possible to introduce wheeled bins, because they simply don’t have the storage space.
“In these areas, homes have remained on black-sack collections, but we’re aware of the problems with attacks from birds and animals, mainly seagulls, littering the area.
“We’ve heard what local people would like introduced into Eastcliff and, as a result, we’re going to be trying these seagull-proof bags to find out how effective they are.”
POSTED: 12/11/2009 15:00:00
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