Public Perceptions of Crime, Anti-Social Behaviour and Personal Safety in Medway

60 people mentioned littering as a negative factor, 62% (37) of these were female and 38% (23) were male. 48% (29) of people aged 65 and over most frequently mentioned littering as an issue they felt negatively about. 42% (25) of people aged between 25 and 64 years of age, and 8% (5) of people under the age of 25 also mentioned the negative impacts of littering. When examining the data by age, gender and ethnicity, the comments are broadly similar as illustrated below.  “My main bugbear is the rubbish - it's always in the high street. You go towards Borstal and there is rubbish everywhere. It's demoralising to see.”  “Could be tidier. Lots of rubbish get dumped and community end up cleaning themselves.”  “Roads are dirty and there are puddles in the street they don't pick up the rubbish. Gillingham is a dirty place. There is not enough cleaning.”  “Environmental issues such as consistent rubbish left on paths and no action being taken to curb this; we never had any rubbish on paths years ago.”  “It could be more tidy, especially late at night leaves a lot of litter.”  “I get irritated when I see litter.” 6 Litter by Location When examining the data by area there are some differences in themes. Chatham including Lordswood and Walderslade - 28% (17 mentions) Gillingham including Wigmore - 27% (16 mentions) In Gillingham and Chatham residents talked about the volumes of rubbish and street littering. There are also mentions of pest infestation.  “It's filthy. The council don't do anything. There are rats everywhere. It makes you depressed. The dirt around, ashtrays just don't get used, it's all on the ground.”  “There is a lot of trash around the area that is leading to an increase of pest infestation.”  “People dumping rubbish and bins overflowing because they haven't been emptied.”  “I don't like seeing all the rubbish on the streets, they are dirty, and they need to be cleaned more regularly.”  “The amount of litter. People get takeaways and then drop the takeaway litter wherever they finish their meal.”  “There's rubbish everywhere and people just don't care about their environment.”  “The litter does my head in.” Rochester including Halling - 20% (12 mentions) Strood - 7% (4 mentions) Residents of Rochester and Strood spoke about dog poo and fly tipping.  “The mess on the street is not being cleaned, especially on the side roads. For example, on the Delce, the amount of rubbish left. It's not being looked after enough. The sideroads are the worst for potholes and fly tipping. It's not nice to see.”  “There are sometimes homeless people around here, and people who fly tip and throw rubbish right in the centre of town!”  “Borstal has a settlement where there is a lot of fly tipping.”  “People are dumping everything on country lanes, and they just have a general lack of respect for the area.”  “All the dog poop left lying around. People don't clear up their mess. It's an annoyance.”  “The dog walkers not picking up their dog poo. The residents here understand that it's a clean area.” Rainham, including Parkwood - 12% (7 mentions) The Peninsula including Cliffe Woods, Isle of Grain and Wainscott - 7% (4 mentions) On the Peninsula and in Rainham, people also mentioned dog mess and the amount of litter and a sense of the council not taking action.  “There's rubbish around that people drop. It's not just the council that are bad it's the people too.” 7  “I used to like it a lot more. I seem to be in constant arguments with the council about litter.”  “People leave their dog poop around.”  “The place is filthy, look at the state of it. The people here are filthy; they don't throw their rubbish away.”  “It's terrible. There's great big thistles everywhere, lots of rubbish. It's terrible, disgraceful. It's a rubbish hole. The dog bins are always full. No one seems to bother. I'm always picking up the rubbish. There are people leaving muck and rubbish around the doors.”