Students and their landlords in places including Kirkstall and Burley are being asked to be respectful of their neighbours and the environment as they leave their digs for the summer.
Leeds City Council is working closely with the city’s universities – including Leeds Trinity University- to support students and landlords to keep noise and discarded waste to a minimum.
Building on the positives of the last two years including 80 tonnes of reuseable items being collected and redistributed free or very affordably through local charities Revive and Slate, the number of temporary reuse banks located in popular student accommodation areas like Burley and Kirkstall has been increased.
Staff from the council’s cleaner neighbourhoods team have joined ambassadors from Leeds Beckett and University of Leeds knocking on thousands of doors in student areas this month, engaging in conversations about being considerate of local communities and delivering flyers detailing ways items no longer needed can be sold, donated or disposed of appropriately.
Information has also been shared via leaflets, social media posts, direct communications to students by universities, as well as WhatsApp messaging from landlords to their tenants.
Unipol again has its dedicated ‘moving out’ webpage offering detailed information on how to donate, recycle or dispose of unwanted items in a responsible and timely fashion.
The household waste and recycling centres at Kirkstall and Meanwood are open every day from 8am-6pm. Leeds Rental Standard-accredited landlords can access discounted tipping on certain types of waste at Kirkstall recycling centre, where the public weighbridge is open 8am-4pm daily. Students can also access Kirkstall recycling centre on foot to donate to the reuse shop or deposit bulky items.
Two additional caged vehicles will also once again be in operation sponsored by Leeds Property Association and Unipol.
Council enforcement officers will be patrolling student areas to ensure waste is being disposed of appropriately, and have the powers to issue fines for non-compliance.
Councillor Mary Harland, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, customer service and community safety, and Councillor Mohammed Rafique, executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space, said: “We would appeal directly to the students to enjoy their final days in their current arrangements, but to remind them of their responsibilities to be respectful and mindful of their neighbours and local communities to ensure there is no anti-social behaviour, which will not be tolerated and will be dealt with quickly.
“There is also no excuse for waste being dumped on the street or in public spaces, please make use of all of the extra range of facilities and options on offer to dispose of goods appropriately.
“Anyone not doing so risks facing prosecution and spot fines, but if people behave responsibly those won’t be needed which is very much what we hope.”
I thought a lot of young people were very concerned about the environment, climate, recycling, etc. Scenes like in the above picture suggest not.