Nearly a tonne of rubbish has been cleared from back streets in Barrow as part of a targeted operation to tackle littering and fly-tipping.
The clean-up in the central areas of the town on Tuesday morning (1 April) cleared more than 900kg of waste that had been dumped in alleyways and yards.
Materials picked up ranged from general household waste to old mattresses, broken toys and furniture.
The clean-up was organised as part of a Westmorland and Furness Council Community Power programme, working with communities in priority wards in Barrow, to tackle issues including anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.
Council staff were joined by volunteers from the Well Communities group in Barrow and local PCSOs for Tuesday’s ‘big clean’.
The operation – the first of a programme of clean-up sessions in Barrow - follows a meeting between senior councillors, council officials and local representatives to discuss ways to work together to address unacceptable levels of littering and fly-tipping in some of Barrow’s back streets.
Councillor Giles Archibald, Cabinet member for Climate, Biodiversity and Environmental Services, joined the leader of the Labour Group, Councillor Derek Brook, Chair of the Furness Locality Board, Councillor Tony Callister and Barrow councillor Andy Coles, to ‘tour’ some of the worst affected areas.
Councillor Archibald said a number of measures were being taken to tackle littering and fly-tipping issues.
He explained: “We are well aware that there are unacceptable levels of litter and fly-tipping in some parts of Barrow and this is an issue that has been raised with us by both local residents and local councillors.
“It is also not a new problem. Littering and fly-tipping issues in some of these areas date back many years and it has been a matter of concern for some time.
“Recent surveys have shown that nationally 6 in 10 people have admitted to dropping litter on the street. As more people are dropping litter, local authorities have less resources to clean it up.
“We are looking at a range of measures to help tackle the problems blighting some areas of Barrow. In line with our Community Power objectives, we want to work with communities to make Barrow cleaner and greener for everyone.
“We want people to be more informed and have greater understanding of the impact of litter and fly-tipped waste – the impacts on wildlife and the environment, the financial cost on public services and how it makes the place look unattractive.
“We intend to work with communities on targeted litter-picks and street cleaning in the worst affected areas – the first of these happened on Tuesday - and we will be working with schools and young people to help change attitudes and behaviour around littering and fly-tipping.
“We also want to encourage more people to report fly-tipping and littering incidents so that we can take enforcement action and we will be contacting landlords and residents about the importance of keeping their yards and alleyways clear of rubbish.
“Ultimately, this is largely an issue of a small minority of people’s anti-social behaviour and not taking pride in their local environment.
“The council can take action to clear-up the worst of the mess, but these additional costs are picked up by all taxpayers and it simply isn’t fair that 99.9% of residents in Westmorland and Furness should subsidise the clean-up of mess left by an irresponsible 0.1%.
“We will therefore be looking to step up our enforcement work alongside the clean-ups, to send out a clear message that we will not tolerate this behaviour.’’
Councillor Archibald added that he hoped the programme to introduce consistent waste and recycling collections across Westmorland and Furness would also help address some of the issues.
He continued: “Ensuring we make it easier and more convenient for people to waste less and recycle more is a key priority for the programme.
“We hope this will encourage more people to do the right thing, by putting recycling in the recycling containers and generating less general waste, which is what usually ends up being left out as side waste and can contribute to the issues like we’re seeing in parts of Barrow.’’