THE FRUSTRATED chair of the town’s anti-litter group has called on residents have to more respect for their surroundings after volunteers discovered an ‘upsetting’ amount of rubbish along Evesham’s riverside.
Coun Gerry O’Donnell spoke out after 15 volunteers gathered for an Evesham Town Plan Anti Litter Group pick together with a representative from McDonald’s.
Volunteers met at the sports club car park before one group headed towards Hampton Ferry while another headed towards Tesco and PJ Laight.
As the volunteers picked onto the Worcester Road, they discovered while the path was clear in some places, it was quite heavily littered, especially where the path met the boundary of Sankey Marine. Over the course of an hour and a half, the group picked a staggering 19 large bags of litter
The group discovered most of the litter was caused by fishing and picnicking, including waste from cooking fires. As a result, most of the group’s bin bags were filled with beer cans and plastic bottles amongst other picnic and fishing debris.
Coun O’Donnell said: “We’re glad to see residents and visitors enjoying the local area. However, it is evident they are not respecting the land as much as they should be. Leaving behind waste after enjoying our green spaces is not only disrespectful to the environment, but it ruins the space for everyone else.”
The group also discovered a large amount of fly-tipped material on Blind Lane and even a bike dumped in the river.
“The costs which are incurred in hiring equipment to remove this could easily be prevented by a quick trip to the waste and recycling centre on Piddle Brook Lane and it takes away funding which could be spent on other services.”
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