Living in other people’s filth (From Bournemouth Echo)

Living in other people’s filth

6:45pm Sunday 13th April 2008 in

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THERE are those who think that CCTV is a menace taking us ever further down the road to the ultimate surveillance society.

But frankly, given the appalling way so many people behave these days, the news that ministers are thinking about extending the powers of local councils to tackle Britain's growing litter epidemic can only be welcomed.

You don't have to spend much time behind the wheel to find someone chucking a fag end or a crisp packet out of their car window. Apparently 1.3 million pieces of rubbish are dropped onto the roads each weekend.

It's part of what is obviously an increasing disregard for the environment, exemplified by the smokers who hang around outside their offices and lob their cigarettes onto the pavement, with virtually no prospect of being caught. Or by the hundreds of evening visitors who leave Bournemouth streets awash with a sea of kebab and burger wrappings. So cameras could now be used to track down and fine drivers and passengers who use the roads as a litter bin - and photographic evidence provided by members of the public might also be used. At the weekend Bill Bryson, who is no stranger to Dorset, launched a campaign to clean up Britain and crackdown on rural and urban litter louts and flytippers.

Good luck to him. Around 30 million tonnes of litter are collected from the streets each year, but the number of people prosecuted remains tiny for these very public offences, so until local councils start taking more seriously their responsibility to keep communities clean, we will all have to continue living among other people's filth.