Campaigners face biggest clean-up challenge to date

Anti-litter campaigners fear a neglected corner of Canterbury presents them with their greatest ever challenge.

Far from containing the routine detritus of food wrappings, bottles and the odd abandoned shopping trolley, they discovered a series of fly-tipping dumpsites when they visited the Vauxhall Avenue field,

One spot was found to contain a dozen rusting fridges plus a mattress which had been torched, while elsewhere there were hundreds of feet of red piping tossed into undergrowth, car tyres and a car battery leaking hazardous content over the ground.

Sian Pettman, of Market Way, who organises litter-picks across the city, visited the field on Friday ahead of a planned pick in December.

“This area doesn’t just need a litter-pick, it needs an industrial clean-up,” the 51-year-old told the Gazette.

“One of the first sights that greets you is a huge stash of red cabling.

“Walk around the next corner and you come across piles of discarded bags of clothing and shoes, ripped open and scattered among the bushes.

“Walk a little further, and you find a colossal heap of dumped metal, old bedsprings and disintegrating white goods, or more precisely rust goods.

“I have never seen so many decaying fridges and freezers in my life. Go towards the river and you come across a den of dumped shopping trolleys, piles of old tyres, a car battery oozing toxic liquids and yet more rusty metal.”

Mrs Pettman believes that fresh tyre tracks in the ground show that the area is used by professional fly-tippers and is urging Canterbury City Council’s cleaning contractor Serco to get onto the field to remove the rubbish.

“It is environmentally irresponsible to leave it as it is,” she said.

“Fridges contain many substances which are harmful to the environment which must be disposed of in controlled conditions.”

The field sits between Vauxhall Avenue, the River Stour where it runs along the side of Broad Oak Road and the back of the trading estate off Vauxhall Road. It consists of several acres of open space, undergrowth, tracks and a city council ball court.

Northgate ward councillors Alan Baldock and Jean Butcher have committed themselves to getting the area cleared.

Cllr Baldock said: “This could be our biggest challenge yet. Not only is it grotty it is unloved.

“It is potentially a great open space next to the river that is now a dump and not used to its full potential.

“People feel unsafe using it. They don’t even walk their dogs there as the dogs get cut paws and worse far too often.”

The Vauxhall litter-pick is scheduled to take place between 10am and noon on Sunday, December 4.

More information about antilitter campaigns in the city can be found on the Canterbury Grot-spots Facebook page

Dumpsites in the undergrowth at the Vauxhall Field