Skye clean-up nets 10 tonnes of trash
A 30-STRONG team of volunteers on Skye have cleared a remarkable 10 tonnes of waste from Skinadin (Sgianadin) Bay in a three-day litter pick.
Working from a base in the Forest Enterprise Scotland (FES) car park just outside Broadford, the team gathered up items ranging from domestic and garden waste to car parts and gas bottles.
Volunteer Matt Harrison said: ‘There was a great sense of community spirit and the funny thing was, although the task was fairly thankless – and disgusting in places – there was not a single passenger. Everyone turned up, saw the job at hand and got on with it.’
One team member supplied everyone with tea, coffee and biscuits and, on the last day of the litter pick, a local brewery sent up a box of beer, while a local cafe brought along bacon rolls.
‘It’s been a very rewarding experience and we hope that our example will encourage and inspire other people and communities across the island to do the same. It’s perfectly feasible that the Isle of Skye could make a name for itself as the cleanest location in Britain,’ Matt continued. ‘It’s amazing how big a difference a small group of people can make to their area.’
The next stage for the community is working to prevent the littering from happening. As well as greater community vigilance and educating people about the impact of litter, the team will be looking at erecting more signs and will be working with Forest Enterprise Scotland to get more fencing in place.
In response to their efforts, local FES forester Bruce Taylor said: ‘We’d like to sincerely thank the team who carried out this tidy-up. It’s made a huge difference to Skinadin Bay and the car parking area.
‘We are looking to upgrade the area next year but we were looking at a chunk of our budget going towards getting contractors to clean up the site. This community effort has been an immense help to us and means that we can now focus our limited resources on improving the immediate area for local residents and for tourists.’
Forest Enterprise Scotland is now looking at installing new fencing that will both allow access but prevent further fly-tipping and dumping in the future.