A £20,066 grant has been awarded to Newark and Sherwood District Council to combat litter and fly-tipping hotspots on some of the district’s busiest roads.

The council was successful in a bid to the Litter Binfrastructure Fund, a grant scheme run by environmental charity WRAP.

The grant recognises councils with exceptional litter strategies and the fund is allocated for the purchase of new litter bins and infrastructure, with the aim of reducing littering and improving the local environment.

The council has a long-term commitment to maintain the district as Cleaner, Safer and Greener and has put extensive resources and investment into maintaining its high standards of cleanliness in its communities.

Currently, 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 can become magnets for fly-tipping, given that one large single item can easily fill the entire bin, making them unusable for their original purpose – litter.

Inadvertently, this causes much of the litter accumulated by road users – such as takeaway wrappers, drinks bottles, carrier bags and food packaging – to be left on the floor.

The fund is enabling the council to buy a total of 54 bin housing units, to secure the roadside bins in place, with a smaller opening that will allow only litter to be placed into them, removing the possibility of a single item blocking the bin. Furthermore, the current bins are liable to become loose, posing a potential danger being so close to a busy road.

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

Coun David Lloyd, leader of the council, 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 council’s environmental progress has been recognised by way of numerous awards and accolades – having won the Least Littered Town in the East Midlands in 2019, as well as Green Flag awards across each of its parks.

The council’s anti fly-tipping campaign, Not in Newark and Sherwood, has already led to a series of prosecutions – including three in the space of 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 the Council’s parks and open spaces in late last year.

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

Newark and Sherwood District Council is committed to keeping communities clean and free from the blight of litter. Residents can report issues of litter here.

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