Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Face a 75 quid fine for ciggie litter? Really?
Those of you who have been members of this site for a while will be familiar with my regular rants on my blog about litter and fly tipping, including the great ciggie litter rage of 2008
Street sweepers in Haringey, it seems, have reported that a substantial part of their work arises from clearing cigarettes ends. It may be my imagination but there seems to be a slight improvement in cleaning up the ciggie litter recently from Enterprise, and now Haringey has warned of a fixed penalty fine of 75 quid for anyone caught dropping their ends.
Glad to see that the problem is being taken seriously, but will actual enforcement take place?
Like much of the low level environmental crime discussed on here, there is much threatened in terms of fines but, as far as we know, very little actually done to enforce.
Take a stroll down Green Lanes on a sunny day, lingering at the MetroBet on the corner of Warham for example and I imagine the enforcement officers could soon relieve the punters of their winnings judging by the number of them hanging round the door smoking then slinging their butts in the vague direction of the bin...
Street sweepers in Haringey, it seems, have reported that a substantial part of their work arises from clearing cigarettes ends. It may be my imagination but there seems to be a slight improvement in cleaning up the ciggie litter recently from Enterprise, and now Haringey has warned of a fixed penalty fine of 75 quid for anyone caught dropping their ends.
Glad to see that the problem is being taken seriously, but will actual enforcement take place?
Like much of the low level environmental crime discussed on here, there is much threatened in terms of fines but, as far as we know, very little actually done to enforce.
Take a stroll down Green Lanes on a sunny day, lingering at the MetroBet on the corner of Warham for example and I imagine the enforcement officers could soon relieve the punters of their winnings judging by the number of them hanging round the door smoking then slinging their butts in the vague direction of the bin...
Tags for Forum Posts: cigarette litter, enforcement, litter
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Billy Clark on
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I know that this has been enforced in Enfield. Someone I know was very upset to be fined in this way. The person who handed out the fine watched her finish her cigarette and throw the butt away outside Oakwood station. She was aggrieved as she didn't know it was an offence and felt she could have been warned rather than fined straight away.
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Permalink Reply by Omotn on
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I tend to agree with the fist offender in this case - whilst ignorance is no excuse what we are trying to develop surely is some respect for our environment, and the immediate imposition of a fine will tend to create resentment rather than respect - whereas a month's worth of warning to every body might engender enough respect to stop the problem - if it did not then start fining and escalate the fine for repeat offenders.
Respect and fear are quite different things - respect for the environment and for others ought in the long run to be more powerful than simply fear of a fine.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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How would they know what was a first /second offence etc? Unless they used photograohic evidence, or were able to demand ID, I guess it would be simpler outside a workplace with regular offenders. Who hands out the fines/summons? Police? Traffic wardens?
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Whether or not she knew it was an offence, she should have known better than to drop it in the street.
Mind you, £75 is a bit steep.
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Permalink Reply by alex on
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I reckon it would be better for litter droppers to have to do a few hours litterpicking rather than paying a fine. Then they might realise the amount of work that goes into clearing up litter from our streets and parks.
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I seem to remember picking litter instead of smoking behind the bike sheds as a playtime punishment when I was at school. Maybe that's what taught me respect?
And in reply to Pamish - I believe law enforcement is supreme at present - of course thay can demand ID and follow you home surreptitiously and bug your phone if need be. After all we are talking littering here.
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Permalink Reply by Ruth on
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Hi Liz
rant on about litter and ciggie ends as much as you like! I am fed up with all the hype from the council about what they are doing about litter and yet seeing so many people boldly throwing out and dropping stuff all over the place along Green Lanes and ladder roads. At the top of my street, owners and users of shops and restaurants just throw down in the road anything from empty cig packets, bottles to unwanted cookers and computers. They empty ashtrays out there, all their sunflower seeds remains etc etc. I feel like throwing it back at them and in their homes.... They do it because they are not only completely lacking in social conscious and awareness but they know they will not get caught and fined. I have never seen any enforcement officers down my neck of the woods.
how can we get these things enforced? the council are hot on issuing parking fines, where are all the litter wardens?
Ruth C
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Permalink Reply by frank demster on
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The Council will not issue fines for cig litter if there is no cig bin nearby. When they are out patrolling they need to have the polis with them as obviously they would just end up getting cigarettes put out on their faces.
They did a big litter fining excercise outside 7 sisters tube a couple of weeks ago. Apparently they fined loads of people. They are also going to crack dowm on their own employees outside council work places.
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