Litter is letting down our village (From Warrington Guardian)

Litter is letting down our village

OTHER people's litter is letting down Winwick say councillors, after judges of the community pride competition slammed untidy road verges.

Representatives entered the competition, which pits the community against other similar sized Cheshire villages. In 2000 the village scooped first prize and hopes were high again for success this year.

But the village finished second to bottom after being placed seventh out of eight entries.

Although winning praise for its leisure centre, hanging baskets and notice boards, the state of roadside verges let it down.

John Gordon, chairman of the parish council, said: "It's disappointing that the road sides let us down because that is beyond our control. As well as people on the main roads throwing things out of windows, there is fly-tipping in none too discrete places. There is no way we can score as high as other villages in this area.

"Last year we had a similar placing and, after analysis, we went to Warrington Borough Council for help, but it is still an on-going problem."

Clr Gordon believes Warrington Borough Council should help to sort out the litter and fly-tipping, especially as the village is a gateway into the town centre. He said: "All the mess is an awful advert for Warrington. People coming into the town for the first time must think, 'what a dump.'

"Major roads run through Winwick and we need help from the council to keep them litter-free."

Peter Moffatt, acting director of

neighbourhood services at Warrington Borough Council, said: "We carry out grass cutting and litter picking duties in the Winwick area on a fortnightly basis.

"The national speed limit applies on the link road between the A49 and M6 therefore, to carry out any maintenance work requires traffic management measures to be in place every time we carry out these duties on the link road.

"As a result, work on the link road is not carried out as frequently as it is on the surrounding roads to limit inconvenience to the motorway users. However, we do regularly monitor the area and respond to deterioration levels and calls regarding fly-tipping.

"We would advise residents who have any concerns to call our customer advice line on 443000."