Following fruitful discussions at the Home Grown Hornsea and Lets Go Hornsea meetings this month the ‘Plastic Free Hornsea’ initiative is underway. A steering group has been formed and is meeting on Tuesday 20th February at 7.30 pm at the Town Hall to draw up a plan of action.
Paul Parry is the Plastic Free Community Leader for ‘Surfers against Sewage’ – the group which has launched the nationwide initiative and which set the criteria upon which towns are to be judged in order to attain ‘Plastic Free Town’ status. Paul already conducts his own beach clean on Hornsea beach every Sunday morning from 7 – 9 am and will lead the steering group.
Hornsea County Primary School is also playing a leading role having already organised beach cleans with their pupils. The school is very conscious of the importance of the scheme and of the need to instil respect for the environment in our young people. A number of projects are taking place in the school with this in mind. One of those projects will now be for pupils to prepare a presentation to the Town Council at the 19th March meeting, since one of the criteria for achieving ‘Plastic Free’ status is that the Council should lead by example and commit to being free from single use plastics on its premises. Another stipulation is that at least one member of the council should be on the steering group and the Mayor Anne Padgett has already been recruited.
The scheme must involve at least two community beach cleans per year. The steering group will organise these and also plans to seek funding for the installation of ‘Two Minute Clean’ facilities which will help people to collect litter whilst enjoying a walk on the beach. Ultimately, however, the success of the scheme will be judged on how effectively it can prevent litter from reaching the beach in the first place by tackling the problem at source. To this end the steering group will be faced with the challenge of persuading local businesses and organisations as well as individuals to commit to eliminating all single use plastics from their premises. So far the signs are promising with several businesses and groups saying they would be willing to make the pledge.
If you feel inspired by the project and would like to become part of or help the steering group contact
Paul Parry: [email protected] Tel: 07511 440030
