Litter pickers praised for efforts to spruce up borough neighbourhoods

A councillor who has been supplying pickers to enthusiastic volunteers has now praised the community efforts to keep neighbourhoods spick and span.

The drive to keep the borough tidy has been embraced by residents young and old, while a couple of Facebook groups have sprung up to encourage people to join in the tidying and then post pictures of their work.

There are a number of groups in the area, including the Westleigh Wombles and the Pilling Street Pickers who regularly head out onto the streets and clear them of waste.

Volunteers also clean up at Bickershaw Country Park.

And now others are taking part as well courtesy of social media groups such as Leigh Litter Pickers and The Big Litter Pick.

Karen Redmond, of Firs Lane, set up the former group about a week ago after being appalled by the state of an area where she went for a walk and already has dozens of members.

Karen, 35, said: “I just went for a walk with my young daughter one day and it was absolutely disgusting; there were bottles, cans, drug bags. It really upset me.

“I thought there was no point moaning about it if I wasn’t willing to get stuck in. I set up the group to give people a platform if they wanted to get involved.

“I didn’t expect it to go anywhere but within a week it had about 84 members, which I’m thrilled about.

“I’m shocked by how many people have wanted to get on board and are so passionate. Every time I look at my phone I have requests for help, people asking questions or posting pictures of litter they’ve collected.”

People from across Leigh have been using the groups to find out how they can get equipment and what to do with the waste they collect.

One of the youngest is five-year-old Sophie Stock, who has been keeping her neighbourhood of Bickershaw clean.

Work has also been done in the Twist Lane area and along the canal.

Some groups have been picking up as many as 20 or 30 bags of waste left lying around.

Coun Dane Anderton, who represents Leigh West in the council chamber, has been supporting residents by providing pickers, gloves and bags.

He says the council is also responding to the grass-roots efforts and has promised to tidy up the main road from the Parsonage Retail Park to St Helens Road.

Coun Anderton says litter dropping is a nuisance for the local authority and while he applauded the work done by volunteers said it would be better if everyone took pride in the town and kept it free of rubbish in the first place.

He said: “Fly-tipping and littering is costing the borough and Leigh a lot of money at a time when we are tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.

“So when residents step up it really is having a much bigger impact allow precious resources to be allocated to front-line services.

“I want to put on record a big thank you to everyone across Leigh doing their bit to help clean up the town. Many people have a lot of pride for our town and as part of The Deal if people litter-pick and look after their local area, the council will remove the bags whilst also disposing of the larger items people may come across.

“This goes to show community spirit is alive and growing in Leigh but also equally it shows we have issues with irresponsible people not binning their litter or taking it home to dispose of it.

“Ultimately the ideal situation would be if there wasn’t a need for this.”

To find out more or join in go to either the Leigh Litter Pickers or The Big Litter Pick groups on Facebook.

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