More than just litter
February 21st 2007 The issues under ENCAMS umbrella stretch beyond litter which is normally associated with the Keep Britain Tidy banner. Large items of dumped junk, abandoned vehicles, fly-posting and aspects of anti-social behaviour like graffiti, vandalism and noise are some of the other things the organisation, under its many guises, continues to fight against.
And it’s across an array of areas that ENCAMS takes up the battle; city centres, rural villages, beaches – through awards like Blue Flag and the new Quality Coast Awards, housing estates, schools which all have improvement needs when it comes to the local environment. Admittedly the demands and problems vary between places. The fly-posting problem in a rural village could be down to a local event whereas in a city centre the blame for the blight perhaps rests with big players in the music industry.
An annual national survey (LEQSE) analysing the state of the street continues to be rolled out, but with a twist. This year, instead of looking at a selection of areas, ENCAMS aims to measure the cleanliness of every local authority area over a two year period.
Notorious for the Keep Britain Tidy campaigns, the organisation continues to strive to change public behaviour. Targeted messages placed in the right spot for the appropriate audience – such as food litter cinema advert aimed at young people – means that litter louts begin to change their ways. Plus, campaigns like Noise Concern offer advice for the public; those who are suffering at the hands of their noisy neighbours, and those who are concerned that they are being too loud. ENCAMS policies are key to the organisation. Establishing a firm position is essential, especially on the more controversial and tricky issues like graffiti. Not only does it inform the organisation’s messages conveyed to the public, media and partners – but also helps to identify how ENCAMS functions, like its relationships with other bodies.
Establishing strong links with land managers is important to ENCAMS. Its Cleaner Safer Greener (CSG) Network gives councils the opportunity to receive expertise on any local environment issue that is troubling them, updates on movements in the sector and the chance to share knowledge and ideas with other authorities amongst other things. It is not just about supporting the environmental services teams but also engaging with other sections of councils – like legal teams who deal with prosecutions, handling environmental legislation. It’s not only local authorities who can reap the benefits of the CSG Network; Housing Associations are able to sign up too.
As well as running the CSG Network, ENCAMS offers an advisory service to any organisation – whether a business, partnership group, community project or authority – to receive expertise, guidance or the opportunity to work on shared initiative areas. With a healthy membership, liaising with other organisations which have similar interests and priorities sees unified efforts to improve local environmental quality for all. It’s free to join and gives access and updates on the latest developments. More articles from Encams (The Tidy Britain Group): | 
