Sticky problem tackled in Leatherhead

Funding from the Chewing Gum Task Force has been awarded to Joint Waste Solutions, who have used around £7000 of the funds to remove chewing gum from the paving in Leatherhead Town Centre. The Task Force is funded by gum manufacturers including Mars, Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle.

Normal street cleaning methods don’t deal with unsightly blobs of gum blighting the street scene in most town and city centres; it’s necessary to employ a contractor with specialist equipment. This has been happening in Leatherhead this week. Lib Dem District Councillor Rosemary Hobbs went to meet the contractors to see the clean-up in action in her role of Cabinet Member for Community Services.

The operatives used a high-pressure washer to lift large quantities of dirt then went over the area with a ‘skater’, a machine with a perforated roller, to remove the stubborn staining. It was a labour-intensive job with each area being cleaned three times altogether. Rosemary was very impressed with the outcome: the paving looked good as new.

Of course, residents would like it to stay that way. Part of the project was to put up large, eye-catching signs on lampposts and bins in areas that have been cleaned with the aim of creating behaviour change so that people put their gum in a bin. The signs are now up in Leatherhead. Rosemary said, “The town centre looks really clean and smart and we’d love it to stay that way. The posters are a visual reminder to behave responsibly and BIN YOUR GUM!”