Bins To Be Removed From Adur Nature Reserve

Bins will be removed from an Adur nature reserve this winter to tackle an ongoing litter problem.

It is hoped that the move will prevent overflowing bins at Widewater Lagoon and instead encourage people to take their litter home with them.

Lancing Parish Council owns and manages the site and Adur District Council is responsible for the bins. Members of both councils agreed that they should be removed ‘as a trial to reduce litter’. 

An Adur council spokesperson confirmed the move and said it would be a ‘short-term experiment’.

In a separate initiative, Adur and Worthing Councils fitted new, larger bins along the seafront and introduced on the spot fines for litter and dog fouling from June.

Litter is an ongoing problem at the nature reserve which is home to herons, swans, geese, cormorants, kingfishers, gulls and many other wildfowl.
About 20 people volunteered to litter pick the area last month during a busy summer season of staycations.

Jo Procter, who took part in the clean-up, said:

“There was less litter to collect than in past years which is heartening but we still had plenty to remove including all the usual pieces such as plastic bags, food containers, cigarette ends, bottles, cans and the more-recent addition, face masks.

“All these items can be a serious problem for the wildlife and we urge the public to please put litter in the bins or take it home.”

She said that several ‘unusual’ items were collected by volunteers including two pairs of underwear, a garden chair and a number plate.

This will not be the only trial of its kind in the country – Ham Hill Country Park, Somerset, and Cotswold Water Park in Gloucestershire have removed bins and say there has been an 80 per cent reduction in the amount of litter.

However, not everyone is supportive of the trial with Geoff Patmore calling it a ‘cost-cutting exercise’.

Mr Patmore is chair of the World of Widewater (WOW) community group which aims to care for the nature reserve.

He said:

“Adur District Council and Lancing Parish Council decided without consultation to remove bins based on other nature reserves which don’t compare to the very public nature of Widewater Lagoon.

“The bins will be removed in September, when there is a much reduced footfall, so there can be no accurate comparisons.

“A good ‘experiment’ would have been a trial period during July or August. My view is that the outcome will be biased and the bins never replaced.

“The community will no doubt litter-pick – disguising the amount of rubbish – and there you have it a cost-cutting exercise.

“Inevitably, some rubbish will remain, threatening the fragile Lagoon.”

More than 357 tonnes of litter was removed from Adur’s beaches, streets and parks between April 2020 and March 2021.

In Worthing, the amount of litter removed from streets and beaches has increased. More than 1,574 tonnes was removed between April 2020 and March 2021, up from 1,391 tonnes during the same period the year before.