Resolved –

This Council notes:

·         The majority of people living in the Bradford District take pride in where they live. The most recent official data from the Office for National Statistics finds that Bradford people are happier than they were 12 months ago.

·         However litter dents this pride. It is a blight on streets, parks and other public spaces and it costs councils across the UK hundreds of millions of pounds a year to clear up.

·         We carry out street cleaning and enforcement activities against culprits in order to clean up our district and we provide practical support to volunteers and community groups who do great work cleaning up public spaces.

·         Behaviour change among the minority of people who create litter is essential in order to deal with the root cause and reduce the huge environmental and financial cost.

This Council resolves to                                                                              

·         Have a Big Clean-Up Day involving councillors and community volunteers across the district.

·         Launch pilot programmes across the district trialling innovative methods alongside established activities and engage with the business community, such as fast food outlets, to jointly tackle littering.

·         Seek community champions to work with officers in strengthening community and business engagement in their local areas.

·         Work with partners on awareness-raising campaigns to educate about the massive cost of litter and to encourage behaviour change.

·         Continue with strong enforcement measures and continue to explore new options together with partners.

Call on the Government to make significant funds available for us to carry out additional work to build community resilience and strengthen community cohesion in tackling the blight of litter.

ACTION:        Strategic Director Place