Team effort praised as Bolton works together to clean up streets

Bolton Council, Bolton at Home, volunteers and local businesses all teamed up to improve public spaces in Rumworth last month.

The day of action was organised after local residents notified the council of a significant amount of waste discarded in the back streets.

Prior to the event, the council’s Environmental Enforcement Officer had attended the area in search of evidence in reported flytipping, resulting in multiple fixed penalty notices being issued.

The area’s Environmental Environment Officer then discussed a plan of action with the Bolton at Home Neighbourhood Services Team and the operation was organised.

Anglia Grove, Cambria Street, Caledonia Street, Broomfield Street and Willows Lane were among the areas covered by the clean-up operation.

In just two hours, there was approximately 5,000kg of litter and flytipping waste removed from the streets, including 27 heavily contaminated bins and a large amount of household waste.

The team included Bolton at Home staff, the council Environmental Enforcement Officer for the area, Volunteer Coordinator of Love Bolton Hate Litter, Bolton Council Neighbourhood Services and a Waste Prevention and Recycling Officer.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service were also in attendance, conducting door-to-door enquiries regarding fire safety to residents in the area, as well as carrying out smoke alarm checks.

Fifteen volunteers from Amazon UK also supported the work, collecting over 100 green bags worth of rubbish over two hours.

This collaborative effort contributed to the success of the clean-up, with skips kindly donated by Evergreen and residents of Anglia Grove supplying refreshments.

Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, Cllr Richard Silvester, said:

“Residents in Rumworth raised their concerns about the amount of waste in their back streets and we have taken decisive action to address the issue.

“Keeping our public spaces clean is everyone’s responsibility and it was great to see partners, local businesses and residents all pulling together.

“We had great feedback from both local residents and passing members of the public.”