THE knee jerk reaction from councillor Lis Burnett to the problem of visitors’ rubbish on the beaches of Barry Island is disappointing if not particularly surprising – politicians and the ‘chatterati’ will always jump on the latest publicity bandwagon.

The response of one of the food sellers was equally risible and blase in the extreme. It was obvious from the photos that the litter was not generated by ‘a few’ people.

But as he said, one of the reasons people day trip to places such as Barry Island is to be immersed in the whole experience – including eating traditional take away food. Eating fish and chips is obviously not possible without some form of container, but the use of polystyrene/Styrofoam is very questionable and the bottom line is that it is the taxpayers of the Vale of Glamorgan who are paying for the clean-up of this litter – not the traders.

The strategy of pumping millions into regenerating the Island – a substantial portion of which came from local funding – remains questionable, it is primarily for the benefit of the traders and to attract the day trippers who they serve – most of whom don’t live locally.

Many towns have signed up to the ‘sustainable community’ movement – aspects of which aim to minimise or totally eliminate the use of excessive and wasteful food packaging. A more positive response from traders might be to look at issuing reuseable containers and charging a refundable deposit on them – rather than act like ostriches?

Deploying officials to monitor and issue fines sounds good. Better use of the CCTV we have on the promenade could also be made, to assist in tracking down and dealing with litter louts.

A combination of innovation and strong enforcement would send a message out to the broader ‘visitor population’ and maybe highlight Barry Island as a pace-setter in this aspect of environmental management and care.

Nick Meyrick

Marine Drive

Barry