Canterbury removes Waste Bins and lessen’s Waste!

Canterbury City Council in their wisdom have decided to remove most of their Street Waste Bins from the City Centre.

It appears that by doing this they are surprised that litter in the Streets has not increased and in fact has given people more incentive to take their litter home with them.

Click Here to see BBC Video

To me this sounds just a teeny weeny bit of a cop out! Why?….

Surely those who are relatively responsible people will take their litter home, they have concern and value their environment.
It may be what they want, but they’ll do their utmost to keep the Streets tidy.
However, some may err and this would obviously lead to messier outlooks.

Those people who have total disregard for rules, laws and other peoples views won’t take the slightest bit of notice of it. In fact, they won’t even notice the Bins have been taken away.
So, at best, the amount will stay the same.

Although the City Council say another reason they’re removing them is because of security and other issues, I do sense a slight tongue in cheek to the statement.

Canterbury is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Kent and indeed, the rest of England, it’s the official Church of England Headquarters, our version of the Vatican if you like.
Surely for Tourists, especially those who are better educated in local self pride, this will seem a little odd.
Also, for them to take their litter away with them may mean a four hour Coach Trip or a journey back over the Channel.

Surely, security wise, if someone’s going to do anything, they’ll find an alternative.

Maybe I’m cynical, I was about the shared space scheme in Ashford Town Centre when it was first introduced a couple of years ago and that has actually come good and people are respecting the changes., but with Canterbury, I don’t see a very clean and tidy outlook !