An environmentally friendly rain garden which welcomes visitors to a city right outside a major train station has been left ‘looking like a giant ash tray’ by careless smokers who are using it as a dumping ground for cigarette butts, locals say.
The gardens, created in Cardiff’s Central Square outside the Welsh capital’s main train station, were thought up to try and prevent flooding by having soil beds to soak up rainwater.
But pictures show how locals have been left disgusted after they have been blighted by hundreds of cigarette butts thrown into the plant beds as garbage.
Locals have branded the area ‘an ashtray’ – and say the gardens sit barren as commuters and visitors arrive.
Council officials are now calling for patience as they say the eco gardens – which photos show contain only a couple of small bushes in otherwise empty soil – will take time to ‘grow and flourish.’
The gardens were installed as a type of sustainable urban drainage system as part of a £400m regeneration project in the city.
They are also intended to enhance the area’s greenery, promote biodiversity and contribute to square’s aesthetic appeal.
The gardens, created in Cardiff’s Central Square outside the Welsh capital’s main train station, were thought up to try and prevent flooding by having soil beds to soak up rainwater
But locals have compared the gardens to a giant ashtray after they became covered in hundreds of cigarette butts and litter
Rain gardens are typically a shallow area of ground designed to receive runoff rainwater from surfaces that would not typically absorb water, such as concrete.
They often use plants that are able to sit in waterlogged conditions for up to 48 hours, the RHS says.
Rainwater then runs into the beds and sits in the depression of the land. before draining over time, avoiding surface water flooding.
Commuter Sarah Jones, who arrives to the city by train, said: ‘It is just awful. Look at the state of it. It doesn’t look like it’s looked after properly. It looks a bit barren, like it’s been through a dry spell. I think it’s terrible.’
Veronica Graham, of Plymouth, said: ‘It’s just like an ashtray. It’s a shame. You have to be realistic.
‘You’re not going to stop people from doing this. But we need to see more people out litter picking.’
Dawn and David Jones, who hand out Jehovah’s Witnesses leaflets at the square, said a greener space could stop the littering.
Dawn said: ‘These spaces should be full of daffodils this time of year. If it looks like a waste ground, then people are more likely to throw their litter there.’
Rain gardens are typically a shallow area of ground designed to receive runoff rainwater from surfaces that would not typically absorb water, such as concrete
In response to criticism, Cardiff Council said the rain gardens will take time to grow and flourish
Locals have branded the area ‘an ashtray’ – and say the gardens sit barren as commuters and visitors arrive
Cllr Norma Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services, is calling for people to dispose of their rubbish.
She said: ‘The best way to achieve a cleaner Cardiff is for everyone to take responsibility for their rubbish. Street cleansing operations cost Cardiff around £7 million every year.
‘What we can’t get away from, is that littering, whether dropped on the ground or thrown from vehicles, is caused by a few selfish people.
‘If litterers used the litterbins provided on street, or disposed of rubbish at home after their journey, then the money which is currently being spent on this problem could be used for other services.’
Cardiff Council said the rain gardens will take time to grow and flourish.
