Litter

I have noticed that the city centre streets are VERY grimy at the moment - it's because we 9unexpectedly) haven't had any rain for ages. I'm not going to bemoan that fact but it is an unfortunate consequence during a prolonged dry spell.

A couple of weekends of excess boozing from tens of thousands of people (more to come this weekend!) has left the pavements really beer stained and rather sticky in parts.

My opinion is Cardiff is very much worse for litter than Reading and the areas of London I have also lived in.
The frustrating thing is Cardiff (again in my opinion) is so much more naturally attractive that those places, so the litter really stands out as a disappointment.
A lot around the outskirts such as rover way, seems to be caused by regular fly tipping and people having no respect for the area they live in or travel through. I think the city center does quite a good job after an event day, but there is still room for improvement.
People caught intentionally littering should have the choice of 2 full days of litter picking, or a £500 fine.

I agree that Cardiff, and S. Wales more generally seems to suffer more from little than London, and other parts of England I have lived in or travelled to a lot - e.g. Cambridge, Oxford, Brighton. I notice this more outside of the city centre (which, with the exception of late at night, and on match days) doesn't seem particularly full of litter - perhaps because a relatively large amount is invested in street cleaning. Where I notice it more is in the suburbs (cleaned a lot less) and on the side of roads and highways. Its not just fly tipping but people chucking cups, crisp packets, cans etc out of their car windows while in their cars. And people dropping stuff on residential streets. This is definitely more noticeable than in the (suburban) area of London I live in.

And its worse in the Valleys than Cardiff. So I think it does reflect a kind of attitudinal issue that "other people will sort it out" (the number of times I've heard people not entirely tongue in cheek in Ponty say it creates jobs for street cleaners!) and a lack of pride in the area (even if there is a pride in being Welsh and being 'Valleys' its a cultural as opposed to civic pride).

Can't really argue with this -

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... e-10293072

I know that there have been two big rugby matches plus the usual weekend festivities but it's now Tuesday and walking through Church Street this morning my feet were actually sticking to the floor. St Mary Street looks awful throughout it's entire length and is strewn with foodstuffs where seagulls have ripped open bags. The council/traders must surely now be aware that this is an ongoing problem so why not have tougher bags for foodstuffs and/or bins?

I understand that there is a good downpour due tonight which will help matters but if we were in for a prolonged dry spell I dread to think what the place would look like.

I wonder how much it would cost to employ two street cleaners per annum? Probably £50k plus the other costs of employment adding another 10k. If you had two dedicated cleaners in St Mary Street concentrating on properly cleaning the street on a daily basis it would make a huge difference. How many businesses in St Mary Street? Perhaps a 100? So just over 2k each per year (or pro rated on square footage or perhaps a higher or lower cost depending on the type of business). How about a portion of business rates gathered ringfenced for cleaning given the nature of the street, the hammering it takes when there are big events on and it's importance as one of the main throughfares in the city?

Are there plans for a BID in the city centre? How this works is a vote amongst ratepayers, and if both an absolute majority and a majority weighted by rateable value vote in favour, up to 2p can be added to the NDR poundage. In Cardiff City Centre that would provide quite a lot more than needed. Even if you restricted it only to stores facing outwards on to streets (so excluding shops internal to shopping centres), you'd still get a lot.

I might have an idea why Cardiff is becoming litter strewn over the past few years, as will all of Europe once we are more "multicultural"


Scenes in Hungary After Migrants Depart

*Slow hand clap*

Moron.

I thought that the post was in very bad taste also. I suspect that trying to find a litter bin in the middle of the open countryside of Orban's Hungary is hardly likely to be either practical or indeed a priority if you've just walked a few hundred km with a kid in one arm and your entire worldy possessions in the other.

Wow - true colours shown?

Why don't you clear off from this place, no place for views like that.

I doubt putting stuff in the bin is top of the list of priorities when you're trying to get your family to a place of shelter.

The telling thing is that nobody was even talking about this topic, and were actually talking about litter in Cardiff, yet this conversation prompted you to think of, and decide to post, your contempt for people of another race.

Bellend.

I'm glad it wasn't just me. I don't think that any one should be banned from here but surely basic rules of human decency should apply in what's a small, friendly forum.

It scares me that people would suggest banning Zach for his comment. We are transforming into a society in which people are willing sneaks, snoops and thought-police. Reminds me of the book, Fatherland, by Robert Harris.

What with Benjamin Netanyahu publicly exonerating Hitler from blame for the Holocaust, there's a lot of creepy behaviour rearing its ugly head.

So what if Zach posted a comment that some find offensive? Argue the point but don't call for a ban - it is a very dangerous approach.