SCHOOL pupils caught littering will face fines of £75 or have to attend a two-hour litter pick, following complaints from local residents and councillors.
Barnsley Council’s Regulatory Services staff regularly patrol the borough’s “enviro-crime hotspots” to try to witness offences. They work both in uniform and in plain clothes with unmarked vehicles.
Last week a plain clothes patrol was undertaken in the Cudworth and Grimethorpe areas. This was in response to complaints from residents and local councillors about the amount of litter left by children on their way to and from school and during lunch breaks, in the areas around Priory School and Willowgarth School in particular.
Some 12 pupils from Priory School, Littleworth Lane, and eight from Willowgarth School Brierley Rd, Grimethorpe, were caught littering on the day, and had their details taken by council officers.
They will be offered a fixed penalty fine of £75 for littering, but most will find that their parents want them to take the preferred option of attending a two-hour supervised litter pick during their own time, either after school or in the school holidays.
It is hoped that by attending a litter pick the young people will understand more about the problems that can be caused by litter. This type of restorative justice, pioneered by Barnsley Council, has been commended by youth organisations and DEFRA as good practice when dealing with juvenile litter offenders.
Both schools have offered their support to the council if they need to identify any children who give false details or who run away when they are approached by council staff. It is a further offence to give false details to a council officer if stopped, and such circumstances often result in the council deciding to take the case straight to the Youth Court rather than offer a fixed penalty or litter pick.
Council staff were given messages of support by teachers and local residents who are upset about the amount of litter being thrown in the area, and about the additional costs to the schools of clearing up the litter left on their own school grounds.
Barnsley Council’s Regulatory Services also run an ongoing program of education in the borough’s secondary schools, where they discuss with children the impact litter and dog fouling in particular can have on their local environment, and highlight the legal consequences if they are caught.
Anyone aged 11 or over can commit a littering offence in Barnsley and they will normally receive either a £75 fine or be given the option to undertake a litter pick.
Cllr Roy Miller, Cabinet Spokesperson, said: “It’s important to realise, even from an early age, that littering is an antisocial activity, spoiling the area for the rest of the borough’s residents and costing a lot of money to clear up.
“Whether they choose to pay the fine or work on litter picking, I hope that these offenders learn their lesson and will think twice about how they dispose of litter in the future.”
