Follow on from Social Action Day



We had two good sessions cleaning up litter at both Gosforth (above) and Hillcrest yesterday. As Stephen said in a post on the last thread, some of what we found was shocking, but we left the car park area in Gosforth very clean, and made a big dent in the amount of rubbish around the play area/park in Hillcrest.

I am quite certain that this was a worthwhile exercise, which the quantity of glass alone that we removed, never mind anything else, would have justified. If you leave large quantities of bottles and broken glass in a play area, sooner or later a child will be hurt.

There were four sites which we looked at for yesterday's action day: two in Whitehaven, one each in Millom and Gosforth.

We talked to Copeland council about the proposed litter picks in advance. The council decided that what we were doing was political and refused to provide the litter-picking sticks etc that they usually make available for exercises like this (we made other arrangements) and then they sent the council's own clean-up team to tidy up the area in Millom which we had been concerned about.

As far as I am concerned that counts as a success: we wanted the area cleaned up, and that was the important thing, not who actually did the tidying-up.

So that's one area cleared of rubbish by CBC and two by ourselves, and one area still to tackle, which is on Bransty Hill.

So regardless of the result of the election and whether I am there as the local MP or as the ward councillor, we will be organising a litter pick on a Saturday in May on Bransty Hill. Details will follow - watch this space.

Comments

Jane said…
I concur, a litter pick is successful, whoever does it. So if saying you will do a litter pick prompts Council action it is a success (however cynical the Council's motives). A lot of dangerous waste has been removed.

It never ceases to amaze me that whenever Conservatives do something it is dirty word "political", but when Labour do it it is for the the community good. I have noticed Elaine Woodburn is not adverse to litter picking when it is suitable.

It also shows that Conservatives are concerned about social issues, irrespective of Copeland support. Conservatives are prompted by what is found, to think laterally along the lines of the social issues regarding how the type of litter got there in the first place.

I agree with Steve in his post. When Chris is an MP he will remain grounded. His first duty will be holding the executive (Government) to account through scrutiny and promoting the interests of his constituency. However he will be kept in touch with what is happening on the ground by his current campaign team, who know their geographical areas. There will be information fed through to the MP and the MP will have a profile in the area. Chris Whiteside has worked very hard during this election campaign to listen to constituents over a wide geographical area. This interest will continue into the next Parliament. The knowledge gathered has been wide and diverse and goes well beyond Mr Reed's narrow interests.
2:35 am
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