STUDENTS are being urged not to dump rubbish on Leamington’s streets when they leave this summer.
Each June tonnes of additional waste piles up on pavements in the south of the town as students vacate their properties until the academic year starts up again in September.
But this year Warwick District Council has stepped up its efforts in a bid to reduce the disruption for permanent residents.
Around 500 ‘moving out packs’ are being sent to student properties in the district, outlining different ways they can dispose of litter.
It also encourages students to consider moving out at the earliest opportunity in a bid to prevent the pile-up in the last week of June.
And there will be five additional textile and bric-a-brac collections in areas with the highest student population around Clemens Street and George Street.
South Leamington resident Jodie Wiltshire believes the problem has got worse in recent years as student numbers have increased.
She said: “When they leave, if they leave all their rubbish it could be days, even weeks depending on what sort of waste it is, until the next collection.
“It would be so much easier if they took some initiative to take their rubbish to a recycling centre or even to take it home with them. It would just take a little bit of effort.
“They’re not really showing much respect. To them it’s not a big deal. They don’t think ‘oh, that will bother the permanent residents.’
“The issue now is that people are paying extra for students to have these extra collections.”
A spokesperson for the council said the cost of delivering packs to students and additional collections has been absorbed into “routine contractual obligations” over the past few years.
They added: “We are encouraging residents to dispose of their household waste using their usual doorstep services and as such we are not organising or promoting any additional collections of non-recyclable waste this year.
“Whilst we hope that the information letters will be effective in reducing issues with accumulations of waste we are also prepared to handle any issues that do arise.”
Warwick University Student Union runs a campaign called ‘Leave Leam Tidy’ which offers advice on different ways students can dispose of rubbish.
Visit www.warwicksu.com/leaveleamtidy/leam for more information.
