What a load of rubbish!
Buddie kids clear up fly-tip hotspot
Young Buddies showed their love for the environment and wildlife on Valentine’s Day with a mammoth clean up of their local area.
The youngsters, aged between four and 13, embarked on a clear up of fly-tipping debris and general litter dumped on open space in the Ferguslie Park area of the town.
The operation was spearheaded by 10-yearold Amelia McNeish, who issued a call to arms on social media urging other youngsters to help tackle the rubbish which was blighting their neighbourhood.
Her call was answered by young members of the Barochan Green Team – an organisation dedicated to revamping what was a flytipping hot spot into a green oasis for the community and wildlife.
The youngsters – including siblings Lisa, Jacob and Jane Hayward and Dominik
Wasilewski – joined Amelia in setting about the 500sq metre area of grass bordered by Candren Road, Belltree Crescent and Ferguslie Park Avenue. With the help of a few adults, the youngsters collected an incredible 33 bags of rubbish.
Maggie Hayward, founder of the Barochan Green Team, said the youngsters did an incredible job.
She said: “Children from Barochan Green Team were very enthusiastic to help Amelia with litter picking as they all know each other from local activities.
“Together they wanted to show their kindness to our environment and community.
“The kids managed to collect a total of 33 bags as well as two old TVs, a mattress, some metal scrap and bits of wood, two traffic cones and more.”
Maggie added: “It’s shocking how much rubbish you can find in a 500m2 space.
“This was all done in about 90 minutes.
“It would be amazing if more volunteers became involved in keeping Ferguslie Park clean as we keep getting told this is one community.”
The children’s cleanup comes just two weeks after Renfrewshire Council committed to launching an environmental taskforce to tackle the scourge of rubbish on the streets of Paisley and further afield.
As part of the project fly-tipping hotspots in Renfrewshire are being monitored by CCTV and a special environmental task force in a bid to stop illegal dumping at the source.
The bespoke unit is now conducting daily patrols as the local authority strives to tighten its grip on the issue and catch perpetrators in the act.
If someone is caught fly-tipping they could face a fixed penalty notice of £200 or, if taken to court, a fine of up to £40,000 or even imprisonment.