New beach litter boards will help marine and coastal environment

Date published: 20th April 2018

The number of #2minutebeachclean boards along the North Norfolk coast has more than doubled.

Five new boards, which encourage people to spend 2 (or more) minutes picking up marine litter and plastic pollution, are being introduced at Walcott, Cromer West, East Runton, Sheringham East and Sheringham West. They were delivered in the last few days. The boards are sponsored by North Norfolk District Council and each has a custodian who looks after it day to day.

The custodians of the new boards are the Kingfisher Café in Walcott, the Reef Stop Café in Cromer, NCI Coastwatch at East Runton, The Mo in Sheringham and the RNLI in Sheringham.

The new arrivals join four existing boards which have been operating previously at West Runton, Cromer East, Mundesley and Sea Palling. These are funded by a combination of businesses, charities, NNDC and other authorities. They also have custodians.

The stated aim of the #2minutebeachclean campaign, which has a strong worldwide social media presence, is: “We believe that every piece of litter removed from the beach matters. So it doesn’t matter if you do 2 minutes or 30. Each and every piece of marine plastic removed from the beach is a piece that will no longer go on to kill.”

Cllr John Lee, Leader of North Norfolk District Council and Leader of the Conservative Group, said: “The idea behind these boards is simple and it is very straightforward for people to take part.

“But despite its simplicity, the impact is enormous both in terms of keeping individual beaches cleaner and showing that individual people can have a real impact on such an important problem.”

Cllr Sarah Butikofer, Liberal Democrat Group Leader at North Norfolk District Council, said the North Norfolk element of #2minutebeachclean had started at West Runton and had proved a “fantastic initiative”.

“Dog walkers, and families in particular, have really embraced the project, with some groups turning it into a new beach activity when they visit.

“This enthusiasm for helping to clean up our beautiful natural environment has led to some environmental inspection ratings of zero litter on the beach. So I am delighted to see it rolled out to new areas.”