Newspaper Report about the Community Litter Pick
Shepton Mallet Journal, 2nd March 2017
Shepton Mallet Journal, 2nd March 2017
A woman has received an apology from her local council after she was told the rubbish collected during a community litter pick she organised would not be collected.
Christine Oram, from the Bowlish area of Shepton Mallet, phoned Mendip District Council on Monday (February 20) to ask for around 20 bags of rubbish to be collected.
Up to 20 volunteers from the Darshill and Bowlish Conservation Society cleaned up litter from the roadsides in their area at the weekend. They had been inspired by a man's recent solo effort to clear away fly tipped rubbish in Bowlish.
Their finds included one whole bag of Strongbow cans.
However when Mrs Oram first phoned the council she was told the rubbish was now her responsibility.
She said: "We didn't think it was very fair. We did a community litter pick to clean up the area for free and lots of the rubbish was recyclable, but I wasn't going to sort through 20 bags of rubbish."
A Mendip District Council spokeswoman said: "We would like to apologise to the Darshill and Bowlish Conservation Society for informing them that we cannot collect the bags of litter.
"The council is always keen to support community litter picks and we will arrange for our contractors to collect the bags as soon as we have the details of their location.
"We will also advise our customer contact centre that this service is available to avoid confusion in the future."
The litter is being picked up on Wednesday (February 22), Somerset Live understands.
Having now received two apologies from the district council, Mrs Oram is keen to inform people about the options for getting involved with cleaning up their communities.
She said: "The council will apparently help people by providing high-vis jackets, litter pickers and bags. I was given a website address but people need to understand that not everyone can use a computer. It's a shame the way to get involved isn't widely known."Mrs Oram also urged people in the Mendip area to contact the district council if they want to organise their own litter picks.
You can call Mendip District Council on 0300 303 8588
Christine Oram, from the Bowlish area of Shepton Mallet, phoned Mendip District Council on Monday (February 20) to ask for around 20 bags of rubbish to be collected.
Up to 20 volunteers from the Darshill and Bowlish Conservation Society cleaned up litter from the roadsides in their area at the weekend. They had been inspired by a man's recent solo effort to clear away fly tipped rubbish in Bowlish.
Their finds included one whole bag of Strongbow cans.
However when Mrs Oram first phoned the council she was told the rubbish was now her responsibility.
She said: "We didn't think it was very fair. We did a community litter pick to clean up the area for free and lots of the rubbish was recyclable, but I wasn't going to sort through 20 bags of rubbish."
A Mendip District Council spokeswoman said: "We would like to apologise to the Darshill and Bowlish Conservation Society for informing them that we cannot collect the bags of litter.
"The council is always keen to support community litter picks and we will arrange for our contractors to collect the bags as soon as we have the details of their location.
"We will also advise our customer contact centre that this service is available to avoid confusion in the future."
The litter is being picked up on Wednesday (February 22), Somerset Live understands.
Having now received two apologies from the district council, Mrs Oram is keen to inform people about the options for getting involved with cleaning up their communities.
She said: "The council will apparently help people by providing high-vis jackets, litter pickers and bags. I was given a website address but people need to understand that not everyone can use a computer. It's a shame the way to get involved isn't widely known."Mrs Oram also urged people in the Mendip area to contact the district council if they want to organise their own litter picks.
You can call Mendip District Council on 0300 303 8588
|
|
