When you have a river which has been used as an open sewer and conduit of waste for over 200 years – its hard to change peoples perceptions and attitudes.
Even though the Irwell has been transformed over the last 25 years – ingrained perceptions of the “dirty Irwell” still linger.
Our local councils and riverside business owners are amongst the slowest to recognise the changes that are taking place in the river which runs through their areas of control, and business owners still see the river as a cheap and convenient way of getting rid of industrial waste. We think we’re on the brink of something special – these guys are doing their best to drag things back into the dark ages.
Bolton Council issued over a thousand spot fines to people in 2013 for littering in the town centre. Anything from throwing a fag end on the street, to an 83 year old lady feeding bird seed to the pigeons was enough to attract the attention of the councils enforcement (revenue collecting) officers.
Its a pity that our local councils haven’t got their own house in order first before rinsing the general public of cash. They should be paying more attention to their responsibilities as riparian owners, the river banks in some areas are a disgrace and a naming and shaming is soon to occur.
During the winter months 2013/14 while the vegetation has died back, we have had members out on the river bank, surveying the fly tipping hotpspots in Bury and Salford.
Numerous reports have been made to both the EA and our local councils.
The response has been fantastic from Salford Council, average from the EA and pathetic from Bury (who do nothing but throw their hands up in the air and blame “the cuts”……….)
If you would like to get involved in the our fly tipping campaign, please contact us via our contact page. We are very keen to have people send us reports and locations of fly tipping taking place in the Rochdale, Heywood and Bolton areas.
Salford, Radcliffe and Bury already have members reporting on them.
We now have a list of 13 fly tipping hot spots – and are determined to get them cleaned up. I’m sure there are many more, please keep the reports coming in.
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