Our main picture shows the litter left behind after a busy summer day in Rye, just waiting for the seagulls to swoop and spread the rubbish everywhere. Time for action, writes Heidi Foster:
The pictures are surely evidence enough, especially compared to the new bins at Strand Quay installed by the Environment Agency which have changed the area. The new larger and seagull-proof bins have made a big difference. Hastings and St Leonards have had money for rejuvenating parts of those towns, so why not Rye?
The new bins on The Strand also get the approval of Christine King:
I would like to say a big thank you to whoever decided to replace the old waste bins on the quayside with the lovely new ones. The herring gulls are now unable to retrieve the waste once it is inside the bins and this means rubbish is no longer strewn about the place as it was in the past.
It also seems to have had the knock-on effect of reducing the number of gulls cadging food from unsuspecting tourists. The whole area looks so much better. Well done.
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Image Credits: Heidi Foster .
If you saw how much of the litter bins contents are strewn over the streets by seagulls and crows during the night, you will appreciate how well the streets are cleaned up before most people are out of bed.
The bins are not fit for purpose. They either need a flap added to them, or replaced by bird proof bins.
A good while back I was alerted to an open topped bin right alongside a popular outdoor eating and drinking area in one of Rye’s streets. Among the bin’s regular deposits were dog poo, used nappies, bin bags left from a nearby Air B&B, take away food scraps and cartons and other highly unpleasant rubbish that stank to high heaven and attracted flies among other things. I negotiated with Rother Council to have it relocated and asked for the replacement to be a seagull proof version. The Council Officer readily agreed. It WAS relocated and it WAS replaced with a seagull proof bin. But it took a year!
The other solution would be to empty the bins in the evening.
It’s during the day that the bulk of waste is generated not in the evening.
Re-negotiate the contracts, empty the bins in the evening and the waste won’t be left over night for the foxes , rats and Gulls.
Cleaner streets and less vermin.
In an ideal world we’d have separate bins for recyclables and general waste, too. Isn’t it strange that visitors who come to Rye because it’s beautiful are so ready to dump their rubbish on top of an already overflowing bin?
It’s striking that in those photos, pretty much 100 percent of the rubbish is generated by takeaway food and drink. Perhaps the merchants responsible could invent (and preferably fund) a scheme to take some of the pressure off the street bins? For example, every premises that sells food and/or drinks to take away could provide a large, frequently emptied bin, and could prominently display a notice on the bin and elsewhere that consumers may put their empty containers from any other eatery in it. I’m sure Cocoamore, the Mermaid Street Café, and other businesses whose packaging is prominently displayed above would far rather advertise their generosity than their rubbish, and such a scheme would show the community spirit that we know our wonderful businesses have in spades.
The shops you made examples of I could only see two items from the shop in lion street and don’t know the mermaid cafe ..packaging .
But the bins pictured were no where near those two establishments .
It’s the customers responsibility to take home or safely dispose of not the business. If the people only crushed each item then the bins would not fill so quickly. If there were fewer bins then make more people take their rubbish home when they can.
Businesses already pay for their own waste to be collected. It would only be another cost to them to pass on.
And where would the large bin be for the takeaway be put and would people deliberately walk to find one..
There is a recycling bin out side Jempson’s supermarket .. and have you seen that one ? It’s often full and I expect it’s not all recyclable.
May be a notice to say please dispose of responsibly. And if bin full do not not leave by side or on top. A clean environment is for every one.
Do you recall Keep Britain Tidy campaigns.
I had forgotten why I rarely visit Rye any more these days. These pics have reminded me why. The town’s basic infrastructure doesn’t appear to be managed properly anymore. I wonder whether the pavements have yet been weeded?
Available and decently maintained public toilets should be top of the list.
I fully agree re seagull-proof bins! As Town Crier, I spend a lot of time on the steps of the Town Hall, and I have both witnessed and photographed seagulls flying INTO the litter bin outside the Kino to retrieve food wrappers, which they then leave scattered all down Lion Street!
Likewise, the bin in the Town Hall garden is a popular food source for these cheeky birds!
It’s incredibly quick – within 5 minutes a seagull can empty nearly a third of a bin, and scatter the litter all down the road, in search of a tasty titbit.
We need seagull-proof bins – though preferably in the current black, heritage, colours rather than the bright green of the ones in Strand Quay!