The leader of Gedling Borough Council has said there has been a ‘significant’ rise in the rat population across the borough due to litter left in borough parks.
In a tweet to his thousands of followers, Councillor Clarke urged those using our parks to take their litter home.
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Clarke said rats were thriving due to discarded part-eaten food, which had been left by those having picnics.
He shared a picture of a rat he had spotted while out on his travels.
Many of our parks and green spaces have been blighted by litter since the pandemic, with Colwick Country Park and Newstead Abbey being the worst affected.
So angry that people would do this isn our wonderful arnold parks. they would not do this is hyde park or a big park but arnold yes. Arnold is our capital of gedling and we need to use it to bring tourists to the area so remember that when you have a picnic and do not take your litter. Nobody wants to see rats when they visit our wonderful town
Yes they do. The rubbish is left in ever park and across beaches up and down the UK. Because people think it’s someone else problem.
I’ve just come back from Ben Nevis and there was rubbish everywhere because people are lazy and inconsiderate to the places around them
Rats have unfortunately become a common sight by the lake in Arnot Hill Park, due in part to people leaving litter but also because people feeding the ducks and swans leave the food on the ground rather than making sure it all goes in the water.
Unfortunately feeding the pigeons doesn’t help either.
I don’t know what it’s like now but the last few times I was there all the bins were Overflowing with rubbish.. perhaps it would help if the council emptied them occasionally instead of putting the onus on visitors to take it home with them…
People just don’t care about dropping their rubbish. Families take McDonald’s into parks feed their children then leave all the rubbish on the grass. I saw this at Arnold Park. Also people drive along throwing rubbish out of their car window as well. If they do this in public they live like it back home.
If Mr Clarke has such an issue with rats then maybe he should sort out the bin collections in places like Netherfield.
Stuff the parks it’s the streets where we live I am worried about. Sort it out GBC
The places like McDonalds and KFC are to blame. You see their bags everywhere in Arnold and Mapperley and they should be fined or taxed or their staff made to litter pick. That would help keep the rat population down.
Perhaps children at school should be taught to care for their environment, also they could do supervised litter picking which could be incorporated into their school’s Ofstead rating?
Totally agree with Jean. These companies should come in and educate the kids. McDonalds I am looking at you.
Why teachers? Surely parents have a responsibility? Not sure litter picking as an Ofsted standard is the way forward! Come on parents, lead by example
I’m Ashamed for Arnold. People have been talking over the weekend about these things and it is harming our town.
Stop it now please as Arnold is our capital and our London. Keep it tidy and attract the tourists. Why not as we need their business and money to build up our town. The market will be amazing and will attract hundreds of tourists so lets keep our park clean so they will go their too and spend money in the cafes and ice creams and we can use that to grow our town.
WAKE UP ARNOLD
Mr Clarke should know, you can’t ‘attract’ rats. They’re not on social media or on the postman’s rounds. How would they know about the ‘litter’? But if there ARE rats around, as there are everywhere, they will welcome a good meal. Remember, you are never more than 6ft from a rat. The significant increase in rat population is just what rats do, naturally. A female rat typically births six litters a year consisting of 12 rat pups, although 5-10 pups is more common. Rats reach sexual maturity after 4-5 weeks, meaning that a population can swell from two rats to around 1,250 in one year, with the potential to grow exponentially. Tackling the litter issue may make the area more aesthetically pleasing, but is unlikely to have any impact on the rat numbers. Any other ideas Cllr Clarke?