Purpose

Street Scene have recently been successful in
securing £22,850 of grant funding from the ‘Chewing Gum
Task Force’ to remove chewing gum and deep cleanse hotspot
locations.
Lazarus Court, St Sepulchre Gate and Hall Gate are the areas
identified as needing chewing gum removal.

The cleansing grant money will be used to commission ‘Spray
Away’ an external cleansing specialist, who will remove
chewing gum from approximately 6,956 m2 at a cost of £3.28
per m2. The cleansing will be undertaken using two van mounted
steam pressure washing vehicles to spot remove the chewing gum
followed by a rotary pan jet wash to ensure a thorough cleanse is
undertaken. Pressure on the machines will be kept to the minimum
needed and the machines utilised are unobtrusive therefore ensuring
there will be no damage to the site surfaces.
Following the cleanse a bespoke prevention signage package will be
freely supplied by KBT and installed by Council staff, following
this an extended monitoring and evaluation project will be carried
out by ‘Behaviour Change’ a KBT partner, to assess the
impact of the project.
In previous pilot’s chewing gum litter has been reduced by at
least a third and in many cases up to 64%.

Street Scene receive a number of requests to cleanse chewing gum
from hotspot and high-profile areas, unfortunately we do not have
the current resource capacity or availability to carry out the
labour-intensive works involved to implement a cyclical
schedule.

The funding will address the resource shortfall while ensuring a
bespoke prevention package is installed post cleanse for sustained
results.
The package will consist of:
A set of highly targeted signage, proven to significantly reduce
gum littering
High quality, weatherproof materials
Printed and delivered at no cost (ahead of any planned clean
up)
Guidance pack (incl. advice on installation and reuse/recycling or
signage) Bespoke to your local needs and amounts required Editable
(e.g. with council logo)
CDC will participate in an extended monitoring and evaluation
project with partners ‘Behaviour Change’ to ensure all
results from the prevention package can be evidenced and
quantified.

Content

The decision taken is to accept the funding
and proceed with the project and subsequent monitoring and
evaluation period

Alternative options considered

Reject the funding
Chewing gum litter is a blight on the local environment and Street
Scene endeavour to maintain the visual aesthetics of the area. Due
to the time-consuming nature of chewing gum removal, if the funding
were to be rejected chewing gum will remain on the surfaces as
Street Scene do not have the resources to undertake these removal
works.