Anger as £600,000 of Taxpayer’s Money is Spent Clearing Litter in Warrington

Anger as £600,000 of Taxpayer’s Money is Spent Clearing Litter in Warrington

Residents and councillors in Warrington have been angered after figures revealed that £600,000 had been spent clearing up litter and fly-tipping in the last 12 months. The figure was revealed by the council leader last week.

The council can only investigate or instigate legal action against anyone caught littering or fly-tipping on council land. More than 4000 incidents of fly-tipping were reported to the council between 2016-18.

Now the council leader is calling on residents to help it win the battle against illegal waste dumping. Speaking about the huge amount of money being spent, he said that it was money wasted and added that people need to take responsibility for what they are doing.

The council said it wants to let people know that those who dump waste illegally will be deal with though it doesn’t advocate people confronting those responsible personally.

Another councillor also raised concerns about fly-tipping and littering, particularly the impact that the money being spent on it is having on vital services. He said that spending that £600,000 on services would make a huge difference and that every pound spent on clearing up litter and fly-tipping is a pound that’s not being spent on supporting people who need it most.

The council said it is happy to see plenty of people supporting its ‘Clean 19’ campaign however, which is a community clean up initiative aimed at making local areas better places to live and work.

Residents who spot fly-tipping or littering offences are urged to go to warrington.gov.uk/flytipping and give the date and time of the incident, a description of the perpetrator, and details of any vehicle used where applicable.

Clean 19

Clean 19 is an initiative which brings together volunteers from six council wards to clean up their communities. The clean ups are part of a wider plan to improve communities and the quality of life for people in central Warrington. Clean 19 was launched earlier this month, and as well as the clean up events, there are information events on wellbeing and on what’s happening in the community.

Councillors say that the initiative has been a big success so far and added that they were pleased to see that so many people really care about their communities. There is more to do though, and residents were reminded to dispose of their waste properly and recycle when they can.

The next clean-up event will be held at Orford on Saturday 8 June. To find out more about the initiative, visit the Clean 19 page on My Life Warrington.