Selfish minority spoiling the Valley for everyone
Keeping a close eye on life in the Valley
HOW was your Easter? While it ranged from warm to the remarkably cold, at least it remained ‘ let’s get out of the house’ weather which, at least, we’re allowed to do again.
Fortunately, Rossendale has been spared some of the more excessive examples of widespread littering in parks, the like of which dominated the news early last week as crowds descended on parks in cities.
But sadly you don’t have to look far around here to realise that one of the side effects of prolonged lockdown is that for some, littering, dog fouling and flytipping have become a social norm.
Flytipping was a problem before the lockdowns began last spring, and Rossendale Council has the impossible task of trying to control it - how do you ensure every remote layby or quiet lane is monitored for people who feel a trip to the tip is somehow beneath them?
Anecdotally, it does feel as though the dumping of rubbish has become more brazen, however.
Catching the 381 across to Blackburn the other day should have been a scenic journey across the Grane Road.
And indeed it was, but at various points whole bin bags stuffed full of rubbish had been just discarded by the road-side, not even in laybys ( not that leaving it in laybys is any better, but it does suggest at least slowing down before lobbing rubbish from the car).
Littering, too, feels as though it’s on the increase.
Is it a product of quieter streets making some people less worried about being caught dropping their rubbish in the street?
We know organisations like the various Civic Pride groups in Rossendale have continued doing amazing work during lockdown, and it’s possible to feel a mixture of gratitude and sadness when you see piles of bin bags lined up at bins when Civic Pride have been doing their work.
Gratitude at the fact there are people prepared to clean up after others, and sadness at the fact they have to.
And sadly it does feel as though the demand for such acts of civic goodwill are in more demand than ever.
Then we get to dog fouling.
There’s no doubt there are more dog owners now than a year ago, and that’s wonderful.
So perhaps it is logical that with more dogs there will be more dog mess on the streets.
But that’s not quite right, is it?
The rules are simple: Clean up after your dog. It’s such a basic concept, it’s baffling that some people simply can’t follow that rule.
And again, Rossendale Council seeks to do good work here too - but bluntly, it shouldn’t have to.
If you want a pet, you should clean up after it.
And the reality is that many, many people do.
All three problems are caused by a selfish minority, and it could of course be that there is no more flytipping, littering or dog fouling than a year ago.
It could just be that we’re all spending more time locally, out and about on foot because we simply haven’t been allowed to do anything else.
Sadly, however, we live around a minority who think it is someone else’s job to clean up after them.
That we’re at the end of a pandemic ( hopefully) where community spirit has been such a positive force generally, and still people think it’s their right to spoil everyone else’s surroundings, is a very sad state of affairs.
The Scribbler’s views do not necessarily represent those of the Free Press.