Oldham Council’s Don’t Trash Oldham team is heading into Hollinwood – the final area their staff will visit as part of the ward-by-ward clean-up of the borough launched last year.
The good news is that this isn’t the end of the campaign and there will be more environmental improvements over the coming months.
The Hollinwood clean-up will start in August, and our staff will be removing all the fly-tipping, litter and overgrown shrubbery they find from roads and alleyways.
If anything is found that can be linked to an individual then we will take enforcement action.
In total, from the other 19 wards, we’ve collected more than 290 tonnes of waste – that’s around the same weight as a 747 jumbo jet.
Our staff have also cleaned more than 3,900 streets and alleyways.
Since September last year we’ve also fined 348 people for environmental crimes.
All this is on top of the work our teams carry out daily.
The council has also started rolling out a street bin replacement programme, which includes 20 solar powered units in Oldham Town centre.
Over the coming months 948 new street bins – capable of holding more than double the amount of waste than the old ones did – will be installed across the borough, an investment of more than £531,000.
The council has also invested another £1m in Don’t Trash Oldham this financial year.
We will be continuing work to improve the borough and will be revealing more about our plans soon.
Councillor Amanda Chadderton, Leader of Oldham Council, said: “Our Don’t Trash Oldham campaign has been a real success and it’s made a real difference to our communities; residents have told us so.
“I’d like to thank our staff for doing a brilliant job – in all weathers – and all the residents, schools, organisations and stakeholders that have supported us over the months and done their bit.
“We’ve created more front-line roles as part of the campaign – meaning we’ve been able to clean up more waste and also take action against those who think it’s ok to dump rubbish and leave others to clear it up.
“We know there is still work to be done, that’s why we are investing more money in the campaign this year. We’ll be improving neighbourhoods but can’t do it all on our own. Residents need to work with us as we don’t have the resources to keep coming back and cleaning up after people.”
