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Search forCouncil gets stuck into gum menace
Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 07:26
A new machine which started work in Bath in July will today pick up its 50,000th piece of gum from the city's streets.
The council chewing gum removal machine can call on a range of brushes to attack sticky stains.
Staff from Bath and North East Somerset Council use it across the district for six hours a day, five days a week and say it is having a positive effect.
But council cabinet member Cllr Charles Gerrish (Con, Keynsham North) said: "Even this is not enough to keep up with the daily disposal on pavements by people who simply cannot be bothered to put gum in the dozens of bins available in town and city centres.
"The council wants people to be more responsible when disposing their gum, and in turn the streets will become cleaner."
The machine operates every day between 6am and noon, alongside the council's other street cleaning equipment.
The council is also urging people to be more responsible about other forms of litter.
For every tonne of litter put into city centre bins, two tonnes are thrown onto the surfaces of streets or car parks in Bath.
Cllr Gerrish added: "The council's message about exercising greater personal responsibility goes beyond disposing of chewing gum sensibly. Our message also applies to cigarette butts, litter, and other unwanted items."
The Council has £1.9 million allocated in 2008/09 for the work of its neighbourhood teams. This work includes street washing, litter picking, litter bin emptying, weed control, and leaf collection amongst other duties.
The teams cover different geographical communities: Central Bath, incorporating Abbey and Kingsmead wards; Outer Bath, which will include all other Bath wards; a Southern area, incorporating Radstock, Midsomer Norton, and Peasedown St John; and a Western area, incorporating Keynsham, Saltford, and Chew Valley.
