Plastic-free town bid backed by council

A DRIVE for New Milton to achieve plastic-free status through waste reduction initiatives has won support from the town council.

Kathy Sirl, who owns zero-waste groceries and homeware store The Naked Pantry in Station Road, spoke of her hopes for the green accolade at a recent meeting of the full council.

She told members that to be named a plastic-free town, New Milton would need to meet five objectives.

These requirements include getting a community steering group together to build support, and trying to get commitment from the local government.

There must also be collaboration with the community, such as urging schools to ban plastic, and local businesses should be involved. Finally, community events including beach cleans would have to be organised.

As reported in the A&T, Ms Sirl’s work towards the scheme recently saw the temporary installation of Nellie the Fat Fish, a special collection point for drinks can and bottles, outside The Naked Pantry.

The six-metre-long marine debris fish had been provided by The Final Straw Solent, a non-profit community interest company which works with local communities and businesses to highlight the impact of plastic pollution.

Cllr Steve Clarke praised Ms Sirl for championing the initiative and called for the council to offer its support. He also asked whether it would write to Hampshire County Council to ask if it was considering ways of making good use of waste plastic and reducing costs.

Members discussed single-use plastics and how everyone has a part to play, as well as the idea of using recycled material in road surfacing.

It was then unanimously agreed that both proposals made by Cllr Clarke should be supported.