A RALLYING call to unearth ‘Litter Champions’ to keep Evesham looking tidy for local residents and visitors alike has been made by council chiefs.
Members of Evesham Town Plan’s anti-litter group have made the plea as part of the blueprint’s vision for the future of Evesham which saw local residents call for action on the town’s litter problem.
The group has developed a strategy based on education, environment and enforcement and is working with Wychavon District Council on a number of schemes to encourage residents and visitors to bin their waste and keep Evesham tidy.
Many of the projects have so far focused on challenging people’s behaviour when dropping litter and now pro-active council chiefs hope to get local people further involved.
A number of litter picks has identified some 30 ‘grot spots’ which are regularly littered and take up a large proportion of volunteers’ time.
However, Coun Gerry O’Donnell, chair of the anti-litter group told the Observer: “We need to expand our efforts and we require assistance to do so, we’d love to hear from community volunteers and councillors to assist us.
“We are proposing to have a number of champions who will lead on litter picks and other projects within a given are such as town wards for example.
“This person would lead a team of volunteers on a series of frequent and predetermined litter picks for 12 months and would be a vital link with residents, and with the anti litter group.”
Council chiefs hope the champions will help show how improvements can be made to an area blighted by litter and have offered support with signs warning people not to letter or extra bins if neccessary.
“The key task for a champion will be to co-ordinate local volunteers, communicate results, and generally monitor improvements or otherwise within their area,” Coun O’Donnell added.
Town Plan committee chair Coun Colin Tether added: “If we can measure and report progress, we may slowly influence people to keep those areas relatively free of litter.
“The district councol does a good job in the town centre , but cannot be everywhere all the time in alleyways and other areas.
“Our villages have a good community effort on litter, largely because they are smaller, manageable areas. Ideally, if we treated council wards as ‘mini villages’, we may get similar commitment. We would supply equipment and supplement volunteers if required.
Anyone interested in becoming a litter champion can contact Town Clerk Stuart Carter on [email protected] or Coun Tether on [email protected]
