IN WHAT seems like a distant summer of long ago, two young women walked along a packed Whitmore Bay and started collecting litter.

Others joined in and helped them to collect much of the rubbish strewn across the beach. It was a good news story about community spirit amongst detritus and apathy.

Two months later, we need to ask, why are these selfless acts of spontaneous litter-picking still necessary across the town?

For a town whose most famous fictional character has the catchphrase ‘tidy’, we have more to do to keep Barry on the right side of that word. On Barry Island, the site of such mess over the summer, positive steps have been taken by the council.

They rightly started to use the tannoy system on busy days to remind people to take their rubbish home with them, and nobody could doubt the good work done by the local authority’s beach cleaning team at the height of the season.

More could be done on the Island on busy days to stop a build-up of litter, including more temporary beach bins. Importantly, more can be done across the rest of Barry all-year round to avoid the instances of mess that we still see.

This is not to say that Barry has a litter problem on the same scale as student and inner-city areas in Cardiff, but we must judge ourselves to a higher standard.

In recent weeks constituents have contacted me about fly tipping near Park Crescent, seagull strewn litter across the new waterfront estate and commercial food waste being piled up and even burned behind Broad Street. This is on top of the low level litter we all see dropped around town.

I am calling for strong enforcement of fly-tipping rules, particularly as the council’s decision to charge for bulky waste collection takes effect. I am also pressing the large commercial waste enterprises to ensure their customers are only taking waste bins out of lanes when collection is due, and not overfilling them.

In terms of seagulls, I would like to see trials of seagull-proof bin bags next year to combat the problem.

Whatever solutions there are to these specific problems, the only answer to common or garden litter is pride. Barry is a fantastic town with a rich history, beautiful coastline, and community spirit.

So let’s encourage all Barry residents, particularly young people, to be proud of this special place and treat it with respect. Tidy.