A LEADING Evesham anti-litter campaigner has blasted the rubbish-strewn state of the Cowl Street car park and land behind the Quaker meeting house and called on more to be done to tackle fly-tippers.
Bruce Taylor spoke out following a recent litter pick of the area by members of Evesham Anti-Litter Group which saw more than six bags filled with litter despite the area being the focus of a litter pick in recent months.
The anti-litter chief raised concern about the private land behind the meeting house and claimed it was used by some to illegally dump rubbish.
“The waste is from householders fly-tipping in bags, there is food waste pilfered from Iceland’s disposal bins. This space will require heavy equipment to clear and probably contains dangerous litter,” he said.
“With a residential area close by and restaurants to the fore in the centre of town surely this must be a health and safety issue?
Volunteers also discovered syringes exposed on the ground during the litter pick.
“There is no reason why young children or animals could not be hurt by these, there are heroin syringes, NO2 canisters and amphetamine sachets. Every time we pick we recover this stuff.”
“Are all these people Evesham people or are they being pushed out of cities?
While picking, Mr Taylor said he saw two individuals drop a cigarette packet which they picked up when challenged.
“Why are they in this space, which is for access to rear of business premises? There are no gates to the car park and I would guess access by car at night results in the heavy littering and fly-tipping of the space,” he added.
In response, Coun Emma Stokes, portfolio holder for Environment on Wychavon District Council, said: “Evesham is a lovely place to live, work and visit but it does have issues, as most places do, with litter.
“On top of our £1.3million yearly street cleaning budget we are also investing £30,000 in a three year anti-litter campaign. So far we’ve launched the popular Adopt a Street volunteer litter picking campaign, installed additional bins and we’ll shortly be rolling out signs and a social media campaign to encourage people to do the right thing.
“We also take enforcement action where appropriate and have increased the maximum fine for littering to £150.
“In some cases where littering is on private land we’re unable to act immediately but we do have a range of powers available to us that can be used to encourage landowners to take responsibility.
“There is no excuse for littering and people can play their part in keeping Evesham clean and tidy by putting their rubbish in the bin or if one isn’t available taking it home and disposing of it there.”
Visit www.wychavon.gov.uk/report-it to report fly-tipping.
