District Dispatch - 23 January 2024

We are fortunate enough to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in the country, but we spend over £1 million keeping the district clean and tidy. We believe that if we could reduce fly tipping, dog fouling and littering, some of that money could be saved and spent on important community services.

That's why, a few years ago, the council introduced an award winning Against Litter campaign. The aim of this campaign is to bring everyone together in the fight against littering and to encourage people to take pride in their local area.

Littering is a crime and anyone caught dropping litter — which includes cigarette ends, cigars, chewing gum, sweet wrappers, food containers and dog waste bags — will receive an on-the-spot fine.

Our Street Cleansing team travel across the 303 square miles of the district each day, cleaning the streets, emptying the bins, and picking up litter. However, over such a large area they can't be everywhere all at once, and so we invited residents, community groups and businesses who take pride in their patch to join our 'Adopt an Area' scheme. The area that you adopt can be as small as the pavement outside your home, a favourite footpath, play area, village or shop frontage — all we ask is that you keep that space litter free. You can find out more about the scheme by visiting our Chichester District 'Adopt an Area' page.

If you're having a New Year clear out, you may be interested to know that the council offers a Bulky Household Waste service. We can help you declutter by getting rid of household items that are too big to move and dispose of, such as sofas, beds, mattresses, fridges and cookers, and we make sure that as much of the material is recycled as possible. You can find out more and book a collection through our Chichester District 'Bulky Waste' page.

Please remember that by law, you are responsible for any waste produced on your property - known as your 'duty of care.' This means that if someone is removing waste on your behalf, it's vital that you use a licensed waste carrier and ask for a waste transfer note as evidence. If you don't do this, and your waste is fly tipped by someone who is not licensed, you could receive a fixed penalty notice of up to £1000 for not disposing of your waste properly. The person who dumped the waste will also be fined.

Businesses are also responsible for arranging and paying for the collection and disposal of the waste they produce. If you're a district business, you can find out about our dedicated waste and recycling service, which is a local, reliable and great value way of managing your waste, on our Chichester District 'business waste and recycling' page.

As part of our Against Litter campaign, we introduced a Green Dog Walkers® scheme, which encourages responsible dog ownership. Anyone that signs up to the scheme pledges to always clean up after their dog; dispose of the bag responsibly; carry extra dog waste bags; gladly give a bag to those without one; and be a friendly reminder to other dog walkers to clean up after their dogs. In return, they receive one of our enamel Green Dog Walkers® badges to display on their coat or dog lead. To sign up, visit our Chichester District 'Green Dog Walkers' page.

By working together, we can keep our district beautiful. For more information about our Against Litter campaign, please head to our Chichester District 'Against Litter' page.

Best Wishes

Cllr Jonathan Brown

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environmental Strategy at Chichester District Council