I was contacted recently by members of the public and a volunteer litter picking group in Blackhall asking if advisory signs could be put up on the roadside to deter passing motorists from throwing litter from their vehicles onto our public open spaces and streets.
I contacted the civic pride office to ask if they would be able to help with this request, and in response they have advised that while signs of this nature do have a short-term impact they tend to be ignored after a few weeks once people become accustomed to them.
This certainly rings true with my past experience when a few years ago I worked with the parish council and some of our schools to put up banners in the streets around schools in the hope of deterring a few irresponsible dog walkers from allowing their pets to make a mess of the streets. For background details please go to posts dated:
- Saturday 27 February 2016 https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2016/02/direct-approach-to-dog-fouling-in.html and
- Tuesday 25 April 2017 https://robcrute blackhall.blogspot.com/2017/04/further-reports-of-dog-fouling-in.html
As can be seen from these two posts the campaigns had the desired effect for a few weeks but then the problem returned as soon as dog walkers became used to the signs the children had designed and put up on fences around their school.
However members of the civic pride team have confirmed they are happy to contact the clean and green team with a request for temporary signage to be placed in locations where littering from passing vehicles is a particular problem. I’ll update on progress when I have more details.