Green Party leaflets dumped across city just days after vowing 'zero-tolerance' approach to littering

Hundreds of Green Party campaign leaflets were discovered scattered on the streets of Norwich, just days after the party's council leader pledged a "zero-tolerance" stance on fly-tipping and littering.

A local resident stumbled upon some 300 leaflets across Mile Cross green in the city, promoting Helena Wysocki and Georgia Brumby - both recently elected as Green councillors for the Mile Cross area.

Residents also discovered sheets containing sensitive voter information, following the May local elections, which saw the Greens secure control of Norwich City Council.

Newly appointed council leader Lucy Galvin had declared less than a week earlier that her party intended to make Norwich "neat, tidy and gleaming".

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The man who discovered the mess, who wished to remain anonymous, said the campaign materials appeared "to be in every single bush", and that those responsible "could not have made more mess if they tried".

He had initially walked past the scene before deciding to return and tidy up, as elderly residents in nearby flats would "have struggled to clear the mess themselves".

He said: "The whole green was covered in Green Party leaflets, and it was clear it must have been an activist, as there were three sheets of voter data.

"There's a lot of older people in these flats, and they're not going to want to be bending over to pick them all up."

The rubbish was scattered through bushes and across the lawn near St Augustine's Gate, filling a quarter of his recycling bin once collected.

Labour, now the main opposition at City Hall following two decades as the majority party, have raised concerns amid growing anger over the condition of Norwich's streets.

Business owners and volunteer litter-pickers have also complained that fly-tipping has become much worse and more frequent in recent months.

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A Labour spokesman said: "You can't preach zero tolerance on fly-tipping and then think it's acceptable to litter our communities with your own campaign rubbish - leaving a literal paper trail behind."

The party described the situation as a "blatant double standard", and called on the Greens to "start by cleaning up their own party's behaviour", rather than "relying on slogans".

The identity of whoever dumped the leaflets remains unknown, with the Green Party confirming it is looking into the incident.

Mrs Galvin said: "We take all littering very seriously, and the local Green Party executive will be investigating what happened here and who was responsible. Thanks to the residents for tidying it up."

During last month's election campaign, the council leader had identified street cleanliness as one of the most frequent concerns raised by voters on doorsteps, with her party committing to address the problem "at source".

While the Greens appear to have breached their own policy, Reform UK has taken a strong stance on fly-tipping and littering, with deputy leader Richard Tice describing the issue as a "sign of just how broken Britain is".

He called for the upper limit for fixed penalty notices to be increased to £5,000, and that there should be a new aggravated offence for commercial, large-scale fly-tipping.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats want to pay cash rewards of up to £5,000 for tip-offs that lead to successful prosecutions of criminals illegally dumping waste.

The Conservatives have called for harsher penalties for fly-tippers and pushed for offenders to face points on their driving licence, something Labour ministers say they are now considering.

The number of fly-tipping incidents dealt with by local councils in England increased by 9 per cent to 1.26 million in 2024/25, according to Government statistics.

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