Published February 25, 2022 at 13:40
Rossendale Council has carried out an extensive clean-up operation in parts of Haslingden after receiving a high number of calls from members of the public.
The area between Bury Road and Manchester Road leading up to Deardengate has had issues over recent months with incidences of fly tipping and general waste accumulation increasing. As well as the clean-up, the council also deployed staff to talk to residents and businesses and provide information.
Councillor Adrian Lythgoe said: “We’ve had a consistent problem with this area for some time now. We clean it up after calls from residents but within a few weeks it’s bad again.
“It is important that we find out why this keeps happening and staff from our Public Prosecution Unit (PPU) worked alongside our Operations Team to deliver information to businesses and residents and completed surveys with them.
“The surveys were looking at bin provision – if they have enough and whether or not they require recycling bins. They were also handing out leaflets that advise what goes in what bins as well as a calendar for the collection days.”
The campaign was part of the council’s Operation Trident strategy to reduce waste across Rossendale. It was a joint effort between the Operations Team and Public Protection Unit, with the priority being to remove waste and litter and to educate and reinforce the council’s expectations regarding waste with any members of the public who they were able to engage with.
Officers from the PPU also visited businesses in the area to discuss waste disposal arrangements and to ensure that businesses were compliant with their duty of care for waste.
Councillor Lythgoe added: “Feedback from the exercise was very positive and the majority of businesses were compliant with their waste. Those who weren’t will be contacted separately to ensure compliance in the future or warned they could face prosecution.
“We will be keeping a close eye on the area to ensure there aren’t any repeat occurrences and the pavement and road sweepers will be out next week to assist with the continued clean up.
“Rossendale Council takes issues like this that blight our communities very seriously and we’re committed to delivering a cleaner and greener borough.”
