Writing to the Guernsey Press, Piers du Pre said that he was saddened to watch people disembarking from their yachts to find overflowing bins.
‘They tried to find somewhere to put their bags of rubbish in the bulging, full and somewhat smelly rubbish skips at the top of the walkway.’
‘Comments ranged from a sarcastic “what a welcome”, “hope there are no rats around”,’ he said.
The large green bins at the end of Crown Pier are marked for visiting yachtsmen only, but debate has been sparked as to whether that sign is being obeyed.
Marina manager Steve Lowe said the bins are emptied daily and there has been an increase in the number of waste and recycling bins recently.
‘This year we introduced recycling on the pier which is working really well and as of this weekend, we are also increasing the number of bins,’ he said.
He believed much of the waste is not from yachtsmen: ‘It’s very rare you see a yachtsman with a big, black bin bag full of rubbish. It’s normally just a little white bag and half goes in the recycling anyway.
‘We get a lot of fly-tipping, where people bring their house waste and chuck that in the bins,’ he said.
Although there are signs on the bins and security cameras around the harbour, it is difficult for the marina staff to always manage what is thrown in the bins.
One weekend when the bins were particularly full, JP Jet Ski Seafaris owner John Richardson came back to his van to find grease down the side. He was told by one of the harbour workers that a bag of rubbish had been hung on his van’s windscreen wiper.
Mr Richardson parks his van near the bins everyday and said: ‘It’s not very pleasant when the bins are full, and I have no idea why someone would stick [rubbish] under my windscreen wiper. [The worker] took the bag but there was still a load of goop left on my van.
‘I’m down here a lot in the day and I’ve never seen people pull black bin sacks out of their cars and put them in the bin so I’m not sure about fly-tipping. It’s not something I’ve observed.’
Upon reflection, Mr Richardson believes the issue is being dealt with. He said: ‘The fuller bins tend to coincide with events and busy days in the harbour. Since the extra bins have been put there, there has been no overflowing anyway.’
Boat owner Rod Jehan questioned why the bins are signed to be only for yachtsmen. ‘Where are other people meant to put their rubbish if you’re not allowed to put them in the bin?
‘It doesn’t matter where the rubbish comes from, it needs to be disposed of,’ he said.
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