Month-long community clean-up in Walmersley

Residents are being urged to join a month-long initiative to tackle fly-tipping and littering in the Lower Walmersley area of Bury.

Council officers are to lead a clean-up campaign, starting next month and lasting until mid-May, and also encouraging the community to play their part in keeping the area tidy.

The area targeted lies between Clarence Park and the town centre, and the roads between Hornby Street and Walmersley Road.

On Saturday 9 April, the street cleansing team will be in the area, pulling in contaminated and abandoned wheeled bins, removing fly tipping, and cleaning the back streets. The Keep Bury Clean litter pickers will also be doing their work in the area.

Over the following days, Keep Bury Clean will be delivering letters informing residents that enforcement officers will be monitoring the area to catch any offenders for fly-tipping or littering.

Then on Monday 9 May, there will be a targeted day of enforcement with officials making their presence clearly known.

Councillor Kevin Peel, deputy cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “Fly-tipping and littering is terrible, and it very quickly blights whole neighbourhoods. It also costs the council a great deal to clean up, money which local taxpayers would much rather be spent on other services.

“But it’s not the council which drops the litter or fly-tips waste. We also need local residents to play their part. We need to educate and change the behaviour of some people and encourage them to keep the area clean, and understand that fly-tipping is illegal.

“By taking this proactive approach we hope to reduce complaints and give residents the information and tools required to keep their streets free from fly-tipping and empower them to report those who do not.”

To report fly-tipping to Bury Council, visit www.bury.gov.uk/flytipping. When reporting: tell us the date and time of the incident; where the incident took place; what the waste looks like; how much waste there is; descriptions of any person and or vehicles; and include vehicle registration numbers if you can.

For your own safety and to help our investigation you should not touch or disturb fly-tipped waste.