Tidy NI Partnership - Objectives and Workstreams - Environment - Translink

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Translink Partnership l Illegal Dumping Campaign l Chewing Gum Litter Campaign l TIDY Translink Awards l Local Environmental Quality Surveying

Translink Partnership

Translink and TIDY Northern Ireland joined forces on a three year partnership in November 2005, to work towards improving the Local Environmental Quality (LEQ) standards of Translink's property.

For this partnership a National Officer was employed, whose work aims to satisfy the objectives of Translink's Environmental Plan - this work is broken down into five main areas:

Understand the Issues: Data is collected in support of initiatives undertaken, to help assess the need for such interventions, and measure the success of outcomes.
Promote Awareness and Change Behaviour: Campaigning activities are carried out to raise awareness of LEQ issues, educate and change the behaviour of target groups.
Involve Communities: Local communities play a very important role in both creating and addressing LEQ issues on Translink’s property. Therefore it is vital the work of the partnership involves these groups where practical.
Enhance Facilities: Providing clean, well maintained and attractive facilities will ensure customer satisfaction, and a pleasant working environment for staff.
Develop Inter-Organisation Communication: The role of communication in-house at Translink and with external organisations is vital to ensure continued success in tackling LEQ issues.

Promote Awareness & Change Behaviour

Illegal Dumping Campaign

Illegal dumping is an on-going challenge for Translink. Every year thousands of pounds are spent clearing away items such as furniture, electrical goods, and general rubbish from the rail track sides.

Illegal Dumping poster (Adobe
PDF document 510kb) - click on the
image to open a pdf version of the poster

Dealing with this issue causes delays to services and disruption to passengers. More importantly it can have massive safety implications due to trespass on to the tracks, risks to employees, and the potential for collisions between trains and the dumped items.

To tackle this issue an information leaflet has been produced which details the main problems associated with illegal dumping. It also provides a complete list of local council numbers which you can use to arrange to have bulky waste removed from your home.

Illegal Dumping leaflet
(Adobe PDF document 1.36mb)

If you think you have unwanted bulky items such as furniture or electrical goods which are in a reusable condition contact one of the charity shops also listed in the leaflet to arrange a collection or donation in your area.

Chewing Gum Litter Campaign

A pilot campaign was conducted at Translink’s Ballymena Bus and Rail Stations, with the aim of reducing chewing gum litter in and around the facility.

Chewing Gum Litter Campaign

The campaign involved surveys, delivery of environmental education, and distribution of ‘Gum-Raps’ (wrappers for waste chewing gum) to local newsagents and secondary schools.

The results of the campaign indicate that the amount of chewing gum litter was reduced during the campaign, which has been attributed to the use of ‘Gum-Raps’.

Enhance Facilities

TIDY Translink Awards:

The TIDY Translink Awards are run by TIDY Northern Ireland for Translink. This programme aims to encourage staff to show pride in their place of work, by taking care of their premises whilst having consideration for the environment.

Tidy Translink Awards

Focusing on the front of house areas of bus and rail stations the Awards give public recognition to the commitment that Translink makes to improve the visual appearance of its facilities and the local environment.

The Awards are made up of three levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold. This structure allows for a gradual progression to the highest level of Award for each facility.

2007 was the launch year for the programme, which focused on key areas including:

General cleanliness
Litter and graffiti awareness
Exterior maintenance and presentation
Waste management
Community involvement

Three Gold Award winning stations were amongst the thirty four participating in the TIDY Translink Awards - see below for the full list of results from 2007.

Gold Award	Silver Award	Bronze Award
Jordanstown NIR	Larne Town NIR	Greenisland NIR
Carrickfergus NIR & UB	Larne Town UB	Newry UB
Downpatrick UB	Lisburn NIR	Newry NIR
	Portadown NIR	Lurgan NIR
	Coleraine NIR	Ballymoney NIR
	Londonderry NIR	Limavady UB
	Strabane UB	Londonderry UB
	Central NIR	Yorkgate NIR
	Great Victoria St NIR	Europa UB
	Laganside UB	Omagh UB
	Cookstown UB	Enniskillen UB
	Ballymena UB	Dungannon UB
	Bangor NIR	Antrim NIR & UB
		Ballymena NIR
		Ballyclare UB
		Magherafelt UB
		Newcastle UB
		Armagh UB

Understand the Issues

Local Environmental Quality Surveying

Annual surveys are carried out to monitor Local Environmental Quality (LEQ) at Translink’s facilities. This information is used to identify the main issues affecting Translink, and develop ways of dealing with them.

Two annual surveys have been carried out to date, during 2006 and 2007. Three types of survey design were used to collect this information. An overview of each of these is provided below:

Attitudinal survey – surveyor spoke with Translink customers about littering issues. This helped to identify what kinds of litter people found acceptable and unacceptable. Also it identified on what occasions and in what locations people found littering acceptable or not.
Behavioral survey – people were observed littering on Translink’s property. This provided valuable information on the types of litter which were being dropped, what age/gender were responsible, and in what areas were most regularly littered.
Observational survey – types and quantities of litter were recorded. This information helps to decide what the situation is at present, and how successful the anti-littering work is over time.

The findings of the surveys are used to inform campaigns for use within Translink and to the public. The aim of the campaigns is to tackle the issues by raising awareness and changing people’s behavior.

Have a look at the Tidy Northern Ireland/Translink LEQ Survey Annual Report - 2007 (Adobe PDF document 1.01mb).

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