Greenwich Council recently announced a £5 million fund to tackle fly-tipping along with images proclaiming: ‘We’re not putting up with this s*** anymore’
Greenwich Council leader Anthony Okereke has defended the social media posts(Image: Kiro Evans)
Social media posts by Greenwich Council featuring bleeped out swear words have been criticised by councillors for being “unprofessional and offensive”. The council has defended the posts, saying they have been viewed by thousands and no one has complained.
On Monday (October 27), the South London authority announced it was investing £5 million to tackle fly-tipping in the borough. The money will be used to double the size of the council’s fly-tipping enforcement teams, install new CCTV cameras to catch offenders, introduce a public reward scheme and hand out tougher punishments.
The announcement was accompanied by posts across the council’s social media platforms. A video explaining the new scheme begins with council leader Anthony Okereke saying: “We’re not putting up with that bleep anymore”.
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The council’s X and Facebook pages both currently have the header of a garbage worker throwing a bag of rubbish into a trash compactor, accompanied with the statement: “We’re not putting up with this s*** anymore.”
The Independent and Green Group on Greenwich Council have criticised the posts and have written to the council leader and chief executive requesting the posts be taken down. Independent Cllr Lakshan Saldin said: “The appropriateness of language is situational and dependent on company and context.
“We do not consider the use of ‘We’re not putting up with this s***’ to be appropriate in a public communication from the council, and it is not an example we should be setting to our young people in our roles as community leaders. It is unprofessional, offensive, and reflects poorly on us as councillors.”
Cllr Okereke has defended the posts, believing that Greenwich residents have taken the posts in “the light-hearted way” they were intended. He directed attention to the borough’s fly-tipping problems, which he deemed far more offensive.
Cllr Okereke said: “The campaign video has been seen over 16,000 times within the first 24 hours, and the general sentiment seems to be appreciated and has been taken in the light-hearted way it was intended.
“We have not received any complaints from residents, and the video has been well engaged with, with the public sharing our frustration at fly-tipping criminals. The most offensive thing for most people is rubbish dumped on their street.
“Anything we can do to draw attention and build a sense of unity against the small number of people who dump illegally is a positive. We all share the same goal – fly-tipping needs to stop and those doing it need to be held accountable and made an example of.”
Got a story? email cameron.blackshaw@reachplc.com
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