If there’s one issue that continues to cause frustration amongst our local residents and is a blight on the place in which we live, it’s litter.
The Gedling Plan 2018 / 19 sets out the Council’s intention to achieve a number of higher level objectives, including how they, along with the support of their partners, intend to improve the lives of the people who live in Gedling.
The people of Gedling would, I am sure, agree with the Plan’s assertion that first impressions are created by the borough’s appearance and support its intention to create a welcoming, attractive, clean and healthy environment which residents can be proud of.
These are fine words, however, local residents and visitors will judge this ambitious statement against their experience of day to day life in the Borough, where it has become increasingly obvious that many of our streets are far from clean, because of the amount of litter that is left to accumulate over months, if not years.
Anyone who has walked along the Colwick Loop Road from its junction with Conway Crescent to Victoria Road will know exactly what I mean. The amount of litter, much of which originates from fast food outlets, both on the foot path and the embankment at the side of the road is shocking.
I have reported this problem twice to Gedling Borough Council via their on-line reporting system over recent months and it is disappointing that they are yet to respond.
This is however, but one example of a problem that is evident throughout the Borough.
In April this year, I decided to go out and collect litter from a 100 yard section of Willow Lane, Gedling and was shocked when I filled four binbags full of plastic bottles, cans, glass bottles and an assortment of paper.
It was clear that much of the litter had been there for a considerable time and half of it could have been recycled.
I have been out a number of times over recent months and repeated the exercise and there is no doubt that the absence of litter makes a huge difference to the look and feel of an area.
A number of our residents have also expressed an interest in supporting a future clean-up and I contacted Gedling Borough Council on April 29 to ascertain whether they would support local residents volunteering to collect litter from the area in which they live. I have not received a response. What makes this situation even more frustrating is the fact that the Gedling Plan seeks to ‘encourage volunteering’. I don’t feel encouraged!
I feel sure that Gedling Borough Council will point to budget cuts and limited resources when pressed on the state of our streets however, they have choices in how they spend their budget.
I read recently in the Gedling Eye that the Council has contributed £50,000 for a scoping study to extend the tram network into Gedling. High level, future planning is of course important, but surely the Council should prioritise their commitment to its residents of making Gedling a great place to live now by ‘creating a welcoming, attractive, clean and healthy environment’.
The fault for litter on our streets clearly lies with a minority of individuals who have no respect for the places in which they live or visit and care nothing for the environment however, surely we cannot accept that once discarded litter should remain where it was dropped.
At some point it has to be collected if we are going to make Gedling a place to be proud of and I think it is reasonable to expect that our Council will actively respond to this problem and will also encourage and support those local residents who are willing to work in partnership with them to improve our area.
Do you agree? Have your say in the comments section below.
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By way of an update – I contacted Councillor Helen Greensmith in June and asked for her assistance in obtaining information from the Borough Council regarding community volunteers. Councillor Greensmith contacted the Council on the 25th June and finally received a response on the 3rd August, which she has forwarded to me. I am grateful for the Councillor’s efforts on my behalf, because after all these months I have still not had a reply. It shouldn’t be this difficult!
Regarding litter. I have previously been in touch with the council about arnold lane litter and to be honest they replied the next day and cleared it straight up (i was suprised!!) However littering seems much worse i think generally in Gedling now. More attention and effort needs bringing to the issue… people know its wrong so its not education..they just cant be bothered i think.
I can live with the litter. I’d rather money was spent on roads and not picking up leaflets.
The community can pick up litter like Philip, but roads get people to workand earn money and arent good enough
There is a huge litter problem in Carlton hill, the place is covered in toxic carsenagenic cigarette ends, rat attracting fast food litter, and regular fly tipping on Dale road, which is probably the dirtyest street in Nottinghamshire. I wrote to my three councillors, two haven’t bothered replying, the third said he would check when the street s were last cleaned and get back to me. That was a couple of weeks ago now. Cutting spending on litter is a false economy, as filthy streets turn off investment and reduce rates for the council. It’s in everyone’s interest to clean up!