Footballers achieve goal by chipping in with litter clearance
A GROUP of footballers have chipped in to help clear up a litterstrewn beauty spot close to the centre of Ashbourne.
A patch of land off the town’s Heritage Trail, which runs from School Lane to Mayfield Road, has been blighted by a burned-out caravan and piles of litter which have been lying just off the path for many years.
The town’s litter-busting volunteer group Proud of Ashbourne decided to make it their latest area of focus and they called in help from Ashbourne Football Club, which owns the land the trail runs through, who sent a team of players to help clear the area up.
A spokesman for the litter group explained how Proud of Ashbourne members began the project by dismantling the remains of the caravan and piling the litter into one place, before the football club stepped in with volunteers and skips to remove the rubbish.
The spokesman said: “Between the town centre and Waterside Park there is a popular, pretty footpath that runs alongside Henmore Brook. In Covid times, when we are urged to stay local, this has become an even more important footpath and green space for local residents.
“For many years this route has had a caravan parked alongside the footpath, amongst the trees behind Mayfield Road.
“This caravan was lived in but then abandoned, along with its contents. Numerous sacks of bottles, bicycles, shopping trolleys and other debris were left behind and the nearby waterway was polluted with foul waste.
“The caravan and adjacent trees were then involved in a fire and the abandoned area became a site for masses of litter, fast food debris, bottles and fly tipping.
“The Proud of Ashbourne group has been aware of this site for some time, having been active nearby in the adjacent car park, opposite the cemetery, and in the footpaths to and around The Hug statue where our previous projects included clearing historical litter and fly-tipping and cutting back brambles to maintain access.”
The group had been monitoring the site of the caravan, the spokesman added, but were unsure who was responsible for the land it was pitched on.
While members worked on establishing who the landowner was, a small group set about clearing the area by cutting up the remains of the caravan and sorting and bagging up the rubbish. This, the group said, took three whole days, and it was then ready for the litter to be removed from the site.
The spokesman said: “It transpired the land belongs to the Ashbourne Football Club who, when contacted, were keen to contribute to the removal of the unsightly heaps of debris and agreed to provide the necessary skips.
“So, on Good Friday, a group of footballers from the club arrived to transport all the collected debris, filling two skips, so it could be removed from the site.
“They were very efficient and did a great job.”
Proud of Ashbourne members have also been working with Ashbourne Town Team to tackle weeds and litter in the town’s shopping streets, ahead of the reopening of non-essential businesses on Monday.
To find out more about the group visit proudofashbourne.wixsite. com/litter