Concerns over litter blighting banks of the River Taff

A councillor said it is “really sad” to see the amount of litter which has built up on the banks of the River Taff in Cardiff lately.

Cardiff Council ward member for Riverside, Cllr Kanaya Singh, was referring to the section of the river opposite the Principality Stadium – an area which most visitors will see at least once, and likely first, when they arrive in the Welsh capital.

However, it is not the only section along the river affected by litter.

Previously, there have been reports of sections to the south and north being littered with toilet paper, sanitary towels and other items such as prams and wheelchairs.

Rainfall

A lot of this waste comes from further upstream and is washed up on the river bank after periods of high rainfall, but some of it is undoubtedly littered locally.

Cardiff Council has started the process of clearing as much of the waste it can safely along Fitzhamon Embankment, opposite the Principality Stadium.

However, a more thorough clean-up operation could take as long as March to get underway.

“It is a shame that that’s the first thing, or one of the first things that people see [when they visit Cardiff], which gives them the entirely wrong impression,” said Cllr Singh.

With reference to Riverside, the Labour councillor said litter particularly affects the area when a major event is taking place.

Cllr Singh argued the community needs litter picking and cleansing services which match up with the level of demand caused by “tens of thousands of people” walking through the area on a match day.

He said: “In an area like Riverside being so close to town, we have such a huge amount of footfall with the various sporting events and concerts.

“I think we need to be really marrying up the services at the same level as the events.”

Safety line system

Cardiff Council said it will have to install a safety line system on the river bank in order to complete the clean-up operation there. This is being installed in March.

A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “Due to the slope of the bank it requires specialist rope access to clear it up.

“We are installing a secure fixing point along the top of the bank for this work to take place.

“The responsibility of this part of the Riverbank lies with the Harbour Authority, but a service level agreement is in place for cleansing to carry out the work.

“It is scheduled to take place in March, but if the health and safety matters are resolved before then, it could be earlier.”

The council spokesperson went on to say the majority of litter is created by a “misrepresentation of waste”.

They added: “Bags get broken open by gulls and animals which turns to street litter. We have a dedicated enforcement team that carry out this job.

“The city centre is categorised as Cathays. In the last two months alone, the council has issued 2,661 enforcement notices and 96 fixed penalty notices in Cathays and Plasnewydd alone.”

Survey

According to a street litter survey carried out by Keep Wales Tidy, 83.3% of streets in Cardiff are deemed to be at an acceptable level of cleanliness.

The findings of the 2024-25 local environment audit management system (LEAMS) survey show there was an increase in the number of ‘C’ and ‘D’ grade streets across the city.

A ‘C’ grade street refers to a street which has a widespread distribution of litter and/or refuse with minor accumulations, according to a Keep Wales Tidy report.

Streets with a ‘D’ grade are considered to be heavily affected by litter and/or refuse with significant accumulations.

The LEAMS report did also find that Cardiff saw an increase in the number of ‘A’ and ‘B+’ streets.

For more information about litter and how to report a build-up of it in your area, you can visit Cardiff Council’s website here.