Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority need to take a leaf out of the New Forest’s book

September 9, 2016 Ross MacBeath No comments exist

In fact, its three leaves, that’s right in just 3 pages (at the bottom of this post) the New Forest National Park lays out its entire litter management plan in terms even a layman can understand.  It’s cost effective and keeps the park clean. It does all this without access restricting bye-laws or management zones or the destructive negativity Loch Lomond &TNP exhibits towards its visitors. It is a positive approach which just gets the job done.

 

Small but perfectly formed

 

At only 220 square miles the New Forest National Park is less than one third of the area of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs’ 720 square miles. However, its network of roads and 150 forest car parks handle 13,555,400 visitor days per year which dwarfs the Loch Lomond &TNP in all respects [circa 7m visitor days]. Despite these huge numbers they provide unprecedented access through their network of car parks each one with that most essential of items, a litter bin, ensuring the best chance of keeping the Park spotlessly clean as part of an effective litter management policy and a shared £250k annual bill for collecting/picking up litter in the countryside.

 

Surprisingly they have only 5 full time rangers supported by another 5 from The Forestry Commission and 70 volunteer rangers so it’s easy to see it’s not brute force of patrolling that makes a difference. So what’s their secret?  In truth, it’s all down to having implemented a proper litter management strategy.

 

Smaller still, but out of touch

 

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P & K litter bin Loch Earn – Photo Credit Nick Kempe

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park with much of its area inaccessible to the litter dropping public has identified only 3.7% of the park as problem zones or 27 square miles. The cost of collecting/picking up litter in this area would equate to £ 31 K on a pro-rata basis with the New Forest.  Given that household litter collection is already a feature in many areas it should be possible to do this for a similar amount  to be shared between local Councils, Forestry Commission Scotland and Transport Scotland. Indeed Perth and Kinross Council already do this.  However, 10 years on, the Loch Lomond &TNP has spectacularly failed to deliver any effective infrastructure for visitors or rural sites in most of the National Park.

 

Meetings about meetings as the Park Authorities failure to act continues

 

Loch Lomond &TNP admitted this in their first conclusion reached at a meeting in June 13th 2016 to discuss litter management

rossIt’s obvious to all that a litter bin to contain this bag would have prevented this situation.

Innovative Approach or just good Management?

 

The New Forest are to be congratulated on their approach which involves the public in a very constructive manner. The park authority takes their own responsibilities seriously by coordinating public awareness of where to report litter problems and the Councils and Forestry Commission are fully on board understanding what is expected of them. The innovative use of technology to allow easy reporting to be carried out using an app directly involves the public encouraging them to take ownership of the problem.

A stark and damning contrast

In stark contrast to the New Forest, LLTNPA employs lots of rangers with 30 full time rangers (some water-based), 30 seasonal rangers supported by a further 150 volunteer rangers.  In addition, there are 3 forestry Rangers assigned to duties on the East Loch Lomond shore and where their schedules permit, access is available to 3 more park wide.   Historically the role of “Ranger” has been educational rather than about policing and Rangers have been viewed with respect through their love and knowledge of the countryside and our National Parks. The Park Authority is undermining that position by turning them into parking wardens and a quasi police force and not providing the infrastructure that would make their jobs possible.

 

Polar opposites

 

It can be seen  the two management strategies is polarised and comparing them it is clear which one comes out on top; do away with the regulation, enforcement, bylaws and other unnecessary distractions and get on with the job of managing the National Park is the clear message.

 

Loch Lomond &TNP’s failure to implement a litter strategy makes them complicit in littering through their failure to act.  Instead they capitalise by taking images of the very mess they are responsible for creating to justify the byelaws no one wants. They continue to waste taxpayer’s money on ineffective campaigns, enforcement and ranger patrols when it is clear that without the infrastructure in place they will fail. The requirement for litter bins and a man with a van to empty them is not so difficult a concept to grasp, so why year after year are we presented with another set of excuses and round of blame shifting to another group of visitors?   Meanwhile the litter management strategy is still in draft.

 

No Consensus on any Litter Management Strategy but full agreement on fines.

 

Their meeting agenda to try and convince the public that they are on top of litter management is a distraction to convince those who monitor that some progress has been made. It refers to initiatives from 2014 and ends with a second conclusion which says it all, another tranche of fixed penalties and enforcement to penalise a beleaguered public is the only way forward:

 

7.2. The Park Authority has made progress on the public information and awareness aspects with the litter emphasis of the RESPECT Your Park campaign and also the enforcement aspect with the use of Fixed Penalty Notice Powers being introduced this summer.

Appendix 1 – Fixed Penalty Notice Policy

Appendix 2 – Fixed Penalty Notice Scheme of Delegation

 

The truth is the introduction of Fixed Penalty Notices is creating confusion among visitors who want to put rubbish in its place but are confounded by the fact in large areas of the Park there is simply no place to put it.

 

New Forest Litter Strategy

(see http://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/info/20096/unspoilt_landscape/44/litter )

new-forest

The New Forest’s unspoilt natural beauty is one of the things that people value most about the area. In general, the air and streams are clean and away from the roadsides and car parks there is very little litter.

Sadly, a minority of people deliberately throw food packaging from their cars, allow pieces of plastic to blow from open-backed vehicles, leave litter in parking areas and even deliberately dump quantities of waste materials if they think they can get away with it.

We work with partner organisations, especially the Forestry Commission and New Forest District Council, to raise awareness of the problems caused by litter and to tackle them.

If you see excessive litter in the New Forest, please report it. This can now be done using the New Forest In Touch mobile app which can be downloaded for free.

 

Reporting litter and fly-tipping

 

The sooner litter and fly-tipped material is cleared up the better. Some roads are checked and cleaned on a regular schedule, but most are done when needed, so your help in telling us when there is a problem is appreciated.

The New Forest National Park spans a wide area in which different organisations have responsibility for collecting and disposing of waste, removing litter and following up reports of fly-tipping on public land. Public land includes roads, pavements, council-owned car parks, parks and recreation areas, laybys etc.

New Forest District Council is responsible throughout much of the National Park although, as land owner, the Forestry Commission has responsibility for the Crown Land. In Wiltshire (between Landford and Redlynch) responsibility falls to Wiltshire Council, and around Canada and West Wellow, Test Valley Borough Council is responsible.

Further information is available on the websites of these organisations and some have online reporting forms.

Please be ready to give as much information as you can, such as:

  • your own name and address, contact telephone number or e-mail address;
  • the location and description of litter or fly-tipping;
  • any information on perpetrators.

Contact details:

New Forest District Council
023 8028 5000
Report litter and fly-tipping using the New Forest in Touch mobile app which can be downloaded for free.
customer.services@nfdc.gov.uk
www.newforest.gov.uk

Wiltshire Council
0300 456 0100
www.wiltshire.gov.uk

Test Valley Borough Council
01264 368000
environmentalservice@testvalley.gov.uk
www.testvalley.gov.uk

Forestry Commission
General enquiries (office hours): 0300 067 4601
enquiries.southern@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Urgent enquiries (24/7): 0300 067 4600
www.forestry.gov.uk/newforest

 

What is being done

Although we are not directly responsible for litter in the National Park, we do work with local organisations to try to reduce the amount of litter dropped and to increase the effectiveness of litter collection.

This work is coordinated through the Joint Litter Working Group which is attended by staff from the National Park Authority, Forestry Commission and New Forest District Council.

As the Principle Litter Authority for most of the National Park, New Forest District Council has a team of people who are tasked with regular waste collections and a range of other litter-related activities. However, much is also done by land owners, especially the Forestry Commission which is responsible for the Crown Lands, and illegal activities are followed up by the Police and Environment Agency.

The estimated cost of litter removal in the New Forest is over £250,000 per year.

Recent joint initiatives include:

  • Each year, staff visit schools across the New Forest to talk at assemblies and to individual classes about why it is so important not to drop litter. These are specially themed sessions that appeal to the age of the children and link to their curriculums.
  • Rangers and education staff often talk with people who might not normally think about litter through public events and at local fetes. Some of these are ideal for the topic – for example an annual Marine Wonders event at Lepe Country Park is a great place to talk about the effects of litter on the sea.
  • Each year, litter picks are organised in a variety of places, ranging from beaches to Open Forest. Usually these are instigated by local community groups but equipment such as litter pickers and tabards can be supplied on loan. Guidance on organising a litter pick is available from the District Council, which is able to call by to pick up bags at the end of the event. Following the success of the Clean for the Queen event in March 2016 we intend to promote an annual ‘spring clean’ – please let us know if your group or organisation would like to get involved.
  • Litter bins are provided at key locations throughout the Forest. Specially designed litter bins have been installed in villages where ponies graze. Not only are the bins pony-proof, but they have a routed ‘message’ saying how important it is not to leave litter where the animals might try to eat it. The Forestry Commission’s car park litter bins are also pony-proof and carry the same message; some locations have double-sized bins to cope with the demand.
  • Each year, posters are put up at key locations across the New Forest including car parks and windows of local businesses. To catch the eye of regular visitors, posters are changed at regular intervals, and rotated with posters about other important topics.
  • Increasingly, social media is used to encourage people not to drop litter. Through Facebook and Twitter we can reach a very wide local and visiting audience.
  • Roadsides are regularly litter picked by NFDC contractors, either at a regular frequency or when excessive litter is reported. This currently includes a contract with the Forestry Commission to cover Crown Land roadsides.
  • Hampshire County Council and Highways England are both committed to liaising with NFDC to ensure that where possible litter picking is coordinated with verge maintenance activities.
  • Please visit our webpage signposting people to the best ways of reporting litter. No single organisation is responsible for litter across the whole of the National Park, and it really helps those who are responsible to be quickly informed when there is a problem.
  • New Forest organisations have joined Tidy Britain Group’s Love Where You Live campaign. This encourages people to take pride in their local area and inspire them to get out there and make it the kind of place they want to live and work. It is planned to be a 10-year national campaign with widespread advertising and we welcome this additional publicity.
  • There are some good examples of local businesses that actively encourage their customers to take litter seriously and, for example, staff from the McDonalds restaurant at Picket Post regularly litter pick nearby roadsides. We hope to work with other local businesses to encourage best practice wherever possible.

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