A summit meeting on how Liverpool can be made cleaner and greener has been called by Mayor Joe Anderson.
The breakfast-time summit will take place at Liverpool Town Hall on 19 March and will bring together a wide range of organisations to look at how the city can implement the Mayoral pledge to make Liverpool cleaner and greener and deal more effectively with such issues as litter and dog fouling.
Up to 80 delegates from 60 organisations– including representatives from businesses, housing associations, schools, community groups, football clubs, churches and schools- will be attending the summit.
They will be asked to sign pledges which will commit them to playing their part in keeping Liverpool clean and litter free. Businesses, social landlords, land managers as well as the council will be asked to give specific commitments to deliver this aim.
Mayor Anderson said; “One of my Mayoral pledges is to make Liverpool a cleaner, greener city and this summit will look at how together we can achieve that
“The city council and its contractors have a very important role and, despite the huge budgetary pressures on us, we are striving to improve our performance. Every year we clear 14,000 tons of litter off the city’s streets at a cost to the taxpayer of £6.5million.
“If we can reduce this cost we can invest in other services – something which is desperately needed in the present financial climate. What we spend on cleaning up litter would provide more than a year’s education for 1,960 primary school children in the city or heat more than 4,500 homes for a year.
“We all have a part to play. We need businesses, communities and individuals to show pride in their city, their workplaces and their neighbourhoods by helping us to keep them clean. It could involve, for example, something as simple as shop owners promising to keep the outside of their premises litter-free
“But we also want to hear of new ideas and initiatives which will make a real impact in making Liverpool a cleaner greener and more attractive city.”
The summit has been funded by Amey who operate the council’s streetscene services. Mike Cafferky, Business Director from Amey, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the summit to discuss ways in which we can all contribute towards the cleanliness of the city and reduce littering.
“Our teams play a vital role clearing the city’s streets, but need the support of local organisations and individuals to ensure we can deliver the service as efficiently and effectively as possible. By understanding the ideas and perspectives from a wide group of representatives, we can all work together to really make a difference and make the local community an attractive place to live, work and travel.
“We will be announcing Amey’s pledge at the summit to demonstrate our long-term commitment to Liverpool, not only through the services we provide, but also through our community initiatives as many of our employees are also residents and want to give something back to their local area.”
The summit will be facilitated by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy. Phil Barton, CEO, said: “The cost of cleaning up litter across the nation is a staggering £1 billion every year – we applaud the city of Liverpool in taking the initiative to call together key Liverpool organisations, business and citizens to tackle this issue collectively.”
