Various surveys and consultations have been carried out over the past five years to find out what the community and businesses want to see improved in the town. The Town Centre Forum group meet regularly to ensure the needs of the town centre are prioritised and to make sure everyone’s working together towards the same goal.
Evidence from surveys shows that the appearance of the town centre is really important to businesses and the wider community. That’s why the Town Centre Forum supported the BID’s application to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to start rolling out “Bigbelly” units to replace the existing grey bins in the town centre.
Bigbelly units include a solar powered internal compactor so, while each unit takes up roughly the same footprint of an existing street bin, they can hold eight times more waste. Bigbelly bins offer both pull handles and foot pedals to access, and the contained receptacle stops rubbish from blowing back out of open sides. The bins are also fitted with separate containers for cigarette butts which reduces the risk from fire, meaning that the bins are unlikely to be taken out of action.
The eight belly bins installed in the London Road and Bedford Street in April 2023 were fully funded through Arun District Council’s allocation from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The project to install the bins was delivered by Bognor Regis BID, in partnership with Arun District Council’s Cleansing Team. Once installed, responsibility for the regular emptying and maintenance of the bins continues to sit with the Cleansing Team.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Local partners Bognor Regis Regeneration Board, the BID and ADC Cleansing are working closely with ADC’s Economy Team to source funding to rollout more belly bins, starting with roads in the first route of the Wayfinding scheme.
