Working closely with the volunteer litter picking group ‘Tossers in Lytham St Annes’, Fylde Council have facilitated the implementation of a ‘bucket and spade trade’ scheme on St Annes beach.
Following requests from the group to implement the scheme having seen other coastal council’s adopt the strategy, Members and Officers have created the trade-in area for unwanted buckets and spades for others to use.
The volunteer litter picking group who walk the beaches morning noon and night have seen an immeasurable amount of litter scattered on our beaches over the last 18-month period. With the warm summer weather and fewer people travelling abroad for holidays again this year, Fylde is expected to receive more visitors than ever, which means it is likely to face a more significant litter problem.
A high percentage of the litter left behind by beachgoers is unwanted bucket and spade sets, including the netting the sets are purchased in.
Plastic causes catastrophic damage to our marine life and the new scheme hopes to reduce the amount of plastics purchased due to the ability to ‘recycle’ the sets in the designated boxes when you arrive and leave the beach. The boxes are currently located at the RNLI ramp and the North Beach main entrance.
The scheme is introduced immediately after the Council launches their ‘Take it Don’t Leave it’ campaign to tackle the amount of litter left in the borough. The campaign programme of events, competitions, targeted social media campaigns and more will run throughout the summer and focus on raising awareness and combatting the problems of littering both on the coast and in Fylde’s beautiful rural areas.
Councillor Michael Sayward, Chair of the Tourism and Leisure Committee for Fylde Council said:
“This is a fanatic scheme that will help to reduce plastic littering our shoreline and ending up polluting our precious sea. It’s always disappointing to see a perfectly useable bucket and spade thrown away, so for those who don’t want to take them home they now have the option to leave them for others to use.”
If you would like to get involved in the Take it, Don’t Leave it’ campaign and be in with a chance of winning prizes simply for binning your rubbish, follow our social media pages on Facebook and twitter @fyldecouncil.
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