Today is Brexit Day and whilst I understand that some of you remain concerned about our future outside the EU, I am filled with hope and optimism about our future as an independent and sovereign nation. Our One Nation has a huge opportunity for national renewal based on democracy, accountability and freedom. As an historic people and nation, we have never been shy of the world and nothing will propel this nation more into a promising future than a culture of togetherness, innovation, determination, aspiration and hard work.
And our promising future starts here in Hastings and Rye. Over the last couple of weeks, I have met some fantastic local people who do wonderful things for our communities. This week, I thought I would highlight our local heroes who do their bit to create a better environment on our doorstep.
In Hastings and Rye, we all get fed up with seeing litter in our streets and on our beaches; we are lucky to have local action groups such as Hastings Beach Clean, Tidy Up St Leonards, Strandliners and Surfers Against Sewage, to name but a few. But, these groups are not just concerned with picking up litter - they want to raise awareness, educate and build a long term litter prevention culture. This is better for us and better for our local environment.
Keep Britain Tidy wrote ‘litter is one of the first signs of social decay. If we don’t care about litter on our street, in our parks or on our high streets, we are unlikely to care about other environmental issues that negatively impact on our lives, our communities and society’
Representatives from Tidy Up St Leonards came to see me in my surgery last week. They told me about their recent conservation efforts, as well as their work in keeping their streets and pavements clean with the help of 100 or so volunteers. Look out for their weekly Wednesday morning clean up sessions - and big action day coming up in the Spring - and join them!
Tidy Up St Leonards volunteers are proud of their town and the area they live in - and they know that a litter problem affects our our pride in and enjoyment of our town. Litter has a negative impact on community spirit, affecting our social and economic health and well-being. Litter and graffiti encourages crime and anti-social behaviour. Litter affects business and tourism growth by discouraging people from visiting. Litter is dangerous for animals, wild and domestic, on land and in sea; 80% of litter in the sea, mainly plastic, comes from the land and plastic is toxic to both fish - and human.
In March last year, as a part of the Great British Spring Clean, the Government provided funding to local authorities to provide equipment and support to groups of volunteers wishing to carry out community-clean ups. Over 100 volunteers helped with clean-ups at Camber Beach, Pett
Level, Winchelsea Beach and along the banks of the River Rother around Rye, filling over 100 bags with hundreds of kilograms of rubbish picked up. This year, our Prime Minister is urging the country to Spring Clean Britain and calls on our communities to come together and join the fight against litter.
Disposing of our own generated rubbish is not someone else’s responsibility; it is ours. It must also be our responsibility to take it a step further and keep our gardens tidy, cut back overgrowth, and pick up litter on the pavements outside our homes. We need to show that we take a pride in our towns and villages if we want others to show respect; if we do not care about where we live, how can we expect others to?
If we want to Keep Hastings and Rye Beautiful and ensure we change attitudes towards our environment, we all need to become litter prevention heroes, wherever we live.
Sally-Ann Hart MP