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One city councillor is making a pitch for year-round garbage collection at London’s parks, saying the service is a matter of safety and civic pride.

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The ranks of city hall’s parks and recreation staff swell each year during the summer months, as thousands of students start jobs working in flower beds, on pool decks, and emptying garbage pails in city parks.

But in the winter months those staff are gone and so are the garbage cans.

“Our pets poop year-round,” Coun. Elizabeth Peloza said, pointing to a growing desire among Londoners to have proper receptacles for their trash.

“Residents have stopped me when I’m out walking; they have written to the office and they have called me. They’re concerned about what their neighbourhoods look like. They’re not proud of where they live.”

She understands 12 month garbage pickup would come at a cost – only the most heavily used parks such as Springbank and Gibbons parks keep garbage cans through the winter – and will raise a motion at next week’s community and protective services committee asking staff to bring back the estimated price tag for year-round collection.

There are 450 city parks and all but a few are stripped of garbage cans after the summer season, said parks and recreation boss Scott Stafford.

“It’s been quite some time now that we haven’t had the staff or resources to do the winter garbage,” he said.

But if council backs Peloza’s push, staff will “thoroughly review” the options, Stafford said.

The trash situation in parks is an issue that periodically rears its head.

Coun. Phil Squire stepped into a community backlash in December 2017 when he suggested pet owners should take home their furry friends’ feces instead of leaving it to stink up central garbage cans. And many pet owners bemoan the lack of disposal options when the cold weather returns.