Leeds is a city with a high number of individuals and organisations that distribute flyers. Many of these are aimed towards the 60,000+ students who live and study in the city (LMU, 2010; UoL, 2010). A high proportion of resident students in Leeds, live along and around what is known as ‘the Headingley Corridor’, which is around the A660 and B6157 roads in-between Leeds city centre and the suburb of Headingley. Flyer distributors wishing to target students often concentrate their activities around this area, to some residents this has become a nuisance.
Leeds City Council (LCC) have taken a number of measures to combat nuisance flyering in the city, ‘to tackle litter that has been generated through marketing activities (flyering) in the open air. This will include paper flyers but can also include other promotional materials’ (LCC, 2005). ‘Leeds takes a zero tolerance approach to tackling litter. The City has designated an area within which printed material can only be freely distributed with consent’ (LCC, 2006, p.1). This zone includes ‘Leeds City Centre and the Headingley corridor bound by Grove Lane to the north, Meanwood Road to the east, Kirkstall Road to the west and Crown Point Road to the south’ (LCC, 2010). Organisations and individuals wishing to flyer within this area must apply for a license from LCC. Licenses purchased by individuals cost £50 per month or £75 annually. Organisations wishing to purchase flyers for their staff to distribute flyers pay the following rates: £75 for the first license; £100 for the second license; £150 for the third license; and £175 for any subsequent licenses (LCC, 2009). If the license is granted there are rules that those distributing flyers must adhere to. These include picking up any discarded flyers, and not leaving flyers in public places, so that they may become litter. LCC state that flyer distributors should ‘post your flyers or printed materials through the letter box of a property, and do not leave flyers or printed material outside that could result in littering’ (LCC, 2010).
The main nuisance to LCC with regards to flyer distribution is where flyers are handed out in public places, here there is a high likelihood that flyers may be dropped by person’s to whom they have been given. Where this occurs, the responsibility for clearing up discarded flyers still lies with the flyer distributor. ‘For those occasions where litter is found after the distributors have left the scene, the materials will identify who is benefiting from the promotion. If the beneficiary, or his distribution company is issuing without consent, they will be prosecuted. If the person responsible does have a consent, the fact that the distributor has left the scene defaced by litter indicates a lack of regard for the environment and written warnings will be issued’ (LCC, 2006, p.5).
Punishment for rule breakers includes: withdrawal of permission to flyer (either temporarily for a fixed-time period or permanently); fixed penalties for littering of £75; fines of up to £5,000 (for persistent littering); and anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) (LCC, 2006). In addition to this, LCC state that ‘in extreme circumstances of litter creation due to multiple flyering, the Council reserves the position to stop all activity in that area – i.e. temporarily revoke all badges’ (LCC, 2006, p.4).
References
Leeds City Council. (2005) Litter from flyers policy. [Internet] Leeds, LCC. URL available from: < http://www.leeds.gov.uk/files/Internet2007/2006/week3/inter__20a62a9f-8a88-4384-a185-9e7cea4a4adf_50e2baf1-2fa5-47f1-865f-bdff1d84928b.pdf> Accessed 31st August, 2010.
Leeds City Council. (2006) Flyer enforcement policy. [Internet] Leeds, LCC. URL available from: Accessed 31st August, 2010.
Leeds City Council. (2009) Application for consent to freely distribute printed matter on designated land. [Internet] Leeds, LCC. URL available from: Accessed 31st August, 2010.
Leeds City Council. (2010) Flyers – free printed material. [Internet] Leeds, LCC. URL available from: Accessed 31st August, 2010.
Leeds Metropolitan University. (2010) About Leeds Metropolitan University. [Internet] Leeds, LMU. URL available from: Accessed 31st August, 2010.
University of Leeds. (2010) About the university. [Internet] Leeds, UoL. URL available from: Accessed 31st August, 2010.
