Talking bins among ideas for making Hartlepool cleaner and greener

Hartlepool’s leaders have set out a vision to ‘to create a cleaner, greener town with everyone taking part and which everyone can take pride in’.

The plans were launched by Hartlepool Borough Council in 2017, with the aim of making the town more pleasant for residents as well as more attractive to visitors, investors and potential new residents.

Now councillors have called for more school children to be involved in initiatives, with talking bins among the ideas.

Coun Marjorie James suggested they could be used in certain areas to encourage children to dispose of rubbish properly.

She said: “A child in a play area for example or in a park would put litter in the bin and the bin would actually say something along the lines of ‘I’m hungry today can you find me some more.’

“If they’re put in the right location then you can be talking about children even at a nursery level that are being encouraged to be clean and green citizens right from an early stage.

“I’m not suggesting for a minute that we put those bins everywhere but there are locations that we have that would be very appropriate to target children in that way and get them on the right track as early as possible.”

She also called for the council to bring back its neighbourhood awards system and give out certificates to children who excel in keeping certain areas clean and green.

Coun James added: “We used to do the best garden in the street, who’s got the best hanging basket, who keeps their area cleanest.

“It was an A4 printed certificate that came off the computer. It’s of minimal cost but I think it has a massive influence.”

Coun James was speaking as councillors on the Neighbourhood Services Committee received an update on achievements under the strategy over the past three years, and council officers praised ‘excellent progress made’.

Going forward councillors called for more work to be done to get school children involved in initiatives to keep the town clean.

Coun John Tennant, chair of the committee, said: “What I’d like to propose would be to advertise and encourage young people to get involved in more clean and green activities on a daily basis by advertising it on bins outside schools, which is something they’ll see everyday.

“If we advertise it on bins it will encourage young children to be more active in keeping their streets clean, which can only be a positive thing.”

He also raised the idea of using social media to collaborate with schools, which received support from councillors.

Coun Amy Prince said: “I think it’s a good idea to involve schools because it’s not just Hartlepool Borough Council doing something, it’s Hartlepool doing something.”

BigBelly compactor bins, wildflower meadow spaces and tough new rules on dog walkers were among projects already in place which were hailed a success.