Sadness over our streets paved with litter, not gold

Ted Dexter, former cricketer, Ralph Steadman, cartoonist, Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State, Brian Eno, musician/composer, Mike Oldfield, musician,

Greg Wise, actor, Brad Rowe, actor, Zara Phillips daughter of the Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips, Patrice Evra, footballer, Andy Murray tennis player, HAVING lived in Huddersfield for over 40 years I am naturally proud of the town and its heritage.

Sadly, like many towns and cities up and down the country, it is in decay.

Our roads are full of holes and cracks and need a lot of investment to bring them up to an acceptable standard but the money, I appreciate, is no longer there.

The streets are blighted by litter and generally look unloved. Filth is caused by flytipping on streets, children’s areas and green spaces.

The council is unable to deliver the basics, partly due to reduced government funding but also by its reliance on citizen participation.

Too many people don’t have pride in our town and are not prepared to do things for themselves. I am sure more could be done to make Huddersfield clean and attractive.

There has been a rapid rise in the number of homeless on our streets, many of these need help to be homed.

Sadly, there are those that are not homeless and just want money for alcohol and drugs. These few make it difficult for us to support those who genuinely need it. I am a passionate poet and have self-published several books, not for profit, just for enjoyment.

Most of my poems are lighthearted and humorous but one or two more serious, looking at modern day issues.

I wrote this poem specially to highlight my feelings on litter in a once proud town. Our streets are paved with litter, Bin bags, mattress and chair. Industrial town of dignity and pride, Entrusted to some, who don’t care. I weep at the filth and decay, Fly tippers defiling our land. The sad thing, it will all go away, If we bury our head in the sand. Fast food cartons, beer cans, Cigarette stubs, rubbish everywhere, Why do people think it’s all right? Yes, I forgot, they don’t really care. Empower our citizens to help themselves, A mantra both loud and clear. Those that will are sadly too few, It can only get worse, I fear.