Council receive grant to tackle sticky issue of chewing gum

THE council has been awarded a £25,000 grant to tackle the sticky issue of chewing gum litter on streets across Omagh and Fermanagh.

It is the third consecutive year that Fermanagh and Omagh Counci has received this funding from the Chewing Gum Task Force, administered by environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy, to help clean up the area.

This year, clean-ups will be undertaken in Omagh, Trillick, Belcoo, Enniskillen, Irvinestown, and Lisnaskea.

Council chairman, Cllr John McClaughry said that he was ‘delighted’ that the Council has once again been successful in receiving this grant to tackle the issue of chewing gum on our streets.

“Chewing gum is a nuisance, looks unsightly and is harmful to the environment as it contains plastic making it difficult to biodegrade,” he said.

“As members of Leave No Trace, I would encourage everyone to dispose of their litter properly and help to protect your environment and ensure our District is clean and welcoming.”

Established by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) in Westminster, and run by environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy, the Chewing Gum Task Force Grant Scheme is open to Councils across the UK who wish to clean up gum in their local areas and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent gum from being dropped in the first place.

Monitoring and evaluation carried out by Behaviour Change – a not-for-profit social enterprise – has shown that in areas that benefitted from the first year of funding, a reduced rate of gum littering was still being observed six months after clean-up, and the installation of prevention materials.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive, said that it is ‘vital’ to remind the public that when it comes to litter, there is only one place it should be – in the bin.

“That is why the behaviour change element of the task force’s work is so important,” she said.

“Chewing gum litter is highly-visible on our high streets and is both difficult and expensive to clean up, so the support for councils provided by the Chewing Gum Task Force and the gum manufacturers is very welcome.”