Council says - Stop the Drop

A campaign to reduce the amount of litter being dropped in towns in the district gets underway this month.

To start the campaign Wyre Forest District Council and British Waterways are organising another clean up of the canal in Kidderminster and Stourport.

Last September the authority joined forces with local residents, British Waterways, West Mercia Police, West Mercia Probation Service and the Community Housing Group to help clean up a prominent stretch of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal in Kidderminster.

More than 40 volunteers made up from members of the public, staff from Sainsbury's Kidderminster and local students, made a vital contribution to the effort which included litter picking and graffiti removal.  More than 30 bags of rubbish were collected over three days.

This event proved to be so successful that British Waterways and Wyre Forest District Council are eager to repeat the effort.

Councillor Tracey Onslow, Wyre Forest District Council's Cabinet Member for Housing and Environmental Services, said:

"This is a fantastic initiative - working together with local partners like British Waterways and the Probation Service - to improve our environment and help to encourage visitors to Wyre Forest.

"The Probation Service did an excellent job of cutting back overgrown vegetation which opened up the towpath.

"We're also grateful to the volunteers – without their support the clean-ups would not be possible.  Some of them constantly work to keep the canalside clean. Last year's event saw a great response from the public who showed that they really care about their environment.  This time we would like to see even more people coming to make a difference and making a stand against such anti-social behaviour."

The clean-up will take place on the 16^th and 17^th March.  Volunteers should meet by the canal at the car park next to the Limekiln Bridge just off Clensmore Street, Kidderminster at 11am.

Volunteers will be helped by staff from Tesco and Sainsbury. The District Council's Street Scene team will be on hand to remove larger items of rubbish and British Waterways will be retrieving debris from the canal.  The clean-up will also be supported by the Friends of Springfield Park who will be cleaning up litter in the park and in the Blakebrook stream.

The clean-up campaign is just one part of the wider ReWyre Initiative aimed at the regeneration and revitalisation of Kidderminster and is the first step in realising the canal's full potential.  One of the next projects is to create a new piece of public artwork on the wall of the canal tunnel underpass underneath St. Mary's Ringway.

To coincide with the canal clean-up the District Council will be taking part in a week of action against environmental crimes such as littering and dog fouling.  They have joined forces with Wyre Forest Community Safety Partnership to arise awareness of the issue.

Councillor Tracey Onslow added:

"It costs the Council thousands of pounds to tidy up after individuals who litter our streets or allow their dogs to foul our pavements and parks.  This is money that could otherwise be spent on better services and facilities in our district.  We all need to work together to educate and change attitudes to solve this problem and – Stop the Drop."

Further campaigns are planned throughout the summer targeting different causes of environmental crime.

Date of issue - 8th March 2010