Week after week, household rubbish is strewn across the pavement outside Sea View Terrace at the corner of East Street and Market Street. Food waste covers the ground and paper and plastic wrappings are blown by the wind down the street. It is not a pretty sight, certainly not for tourist visitors to the town.
Most of the residents in the area are responsible citizens. They put out proper dustbins or black hessian sacks to protect their rubbish. Don’t blame the seagulls – they are hungry searching for food. Unfortunately there appears to be one source where the occupant is either unaware of our seagull population, or is not so careful of the public interest. Might this be a B&B tenant who heads off home on a Sunday night and leaves the unprotected bags to their fate? Has a landlord failed to provide proper instruction?
Rother District Council has been made aware of the problem and their street cleaner is generally promptly on the scene. This morning he was there scooping it up within 15 minutes of the refuse vehicle’s collection. This should not have to happen though, so what else can be done? Issue free hessian sacks? Pass a by-law fining misconduct as for littering?
Rother District Council has initiated a litter campaign with enforcement powers https://www.rother.gov.uk/news/council-calls-for-help-as-enforcement-begins/ but relies upon the general public in reporting environmental offences on their website https://www.rother.gov.uk/reportit
How effective this is remains to be seen, but meanwhile we must be grateful for our valiant street cleaner who does such an excellent job.
Image Credits: Kenneth Bird .
The properties in the centre of Rye do not have wheelie bins and this is where the problem lies. It would be sensible to issue each house or flat seagull proof sacks, as they have in Hastings. There is then, hopefully, no issue with household waste.
Makes total sense to provide appropriate “seagull-proof” bags, I can’t understand why it’s not already been done. The Council cannot of course know of things about which it has not been made aware.
Having moved to Rye in October I went onto Rother council website to get a bin/sack as I was aware of the issues with the Seagulls. To my surprise the council do not offer a bin or sack so I am also at the mercy of the Seagulls when I place my rubbish out for collection on a Monday
You can buy gull proof sacks on Amazon for about £15 ….whether the council will pick up from those I don’t know but they do on Ferry Rd. And yes I agree with above….don’t blame the gulls who are needing food more than ever at the mo as the babies have arrived!!
I live in Hastings Old Town and was issued with a hessian sack a few years ago. Unfortunately, though they may be a gull deterrent, they are also unhygienic; many people tip their food waste etc straight into them, rather than use ordinary bin bags beforehand. This in turn attracts badgers etc, who happily forage in them and feast upon the contents, very often leaving a ‘gratuity’ as thanks nearby! I feel that more public waste bins designed to be safe from wildlife need to be placed in areas which have the need, and more frequent emptying.
I have a holiday let property on Mermaid Street and leave clear instructions that guests must take their rubbish home .. which they rarely do so I have to clear it and take it home with me. Of course I understand why citadel properties can’t have wheelie bins since they are so unsightly. But you can’t just leave us with no alternative! Why can’t there be large communal bins for general waste and recycling? Maybe down by the Strand? If there is a problem with people dumping, maybe there could be a coded lock?
If I ever stay in your holiday let property on Mermaid Street (I can dream) I promise to remove all of my rubbish when I depart! (Definitely no question about that.)
Why should residents adjacent to the Strand that live there 24/7 have to put up with other people’s rubbish from Mermaid Street, especially when there is plenty of room next to the old school in Mermaid Street, to accomodate their smelly rubbish.
Is it a problem of entitlement?
Do citadel citizens believe that someone else should clear up their mess?
I don’t like black bins. But I have NO choice.
Let’s have communal bins on the Strand, I take it that’s a joke?
We can’t have the unsightly bins in the “Citadel” so let’s put them where someone else has to live.
You run a business so you sort your own rubbish out and us who live on the Strand will sort ours.
People who choose to own properties in the Citadel should take full responsibility for their rubbish, why should others at Strand Quay have to put up with other people’s communal bins, plus there is rubbish tips at Hastings and Mountfield to deposit their rubbish.
May I suggest this issue demonstrates how far behind the rest of the country RDC is in this matter. Perhaps we can demand RDC finally progresses, as some nearby councils did years ago, to the collection and recycling of food waste. The council issues the small (bucket-sized) bins which have a handle that, when in the upright position, locks the bin closed via 2 lugs on the side of the bin. They are small enough for each property to manage and can be used together with compostable bin liners to reduce odours.
The gulls would not be able to open them, every household can paint their number on the outside so ownership is clear, and it would save general household waste being contaminated by food waste, reducing the level of contamination in landfill. The food can be recycled into very useful compost which is resold to recoup some of the outlay.
Quite a simple solution, albeit to a much larger issue.