Stop treating our street as a rubbish dump
I’M ASHAMED OF WHERE I LIVE, SAYS MARIE
A RADFORD resident who finds rubbish dumped daily in her street is “ashamed” of where she lives.
Marie Simpson, 52, has lived in Wordsworth Road, Radford, for 31 years and has seen all sorts of rubbish dumped on the street, from household furniture to a whole chicken.
She says she brings the problems to Nottingham City Council’s attention but claims “they do not even reply”.
The supermarket worker told the Post: “A bin has been put at the bottom of the street but it just creates more fly-tipping.
“There is litter everywhere. There’s litter in the gutters where people throw it and fly-tipping is constant round the bins.
“There was even a whole chicken on the street - it smells of render.
“I have been fighting this for about two years. I went on holiday for a week and I came back and the mattress at the bottom which was there when I left is still there.
“I’m not asking for a lot, just someone to litter-pick the street once a week and people to report it when they see it.
“I am always picking up litter, I’m not prepared to do the whole street when residents are throwing it out. I have a full-time job, I can only do so much - it’s not my job, I don’t work for the council.
“People used to have a lot of pride but they don’t now. I feel ashamed to live here.
“I can’t get my head round why people create so much mess and the council doesn’t seem to be bothered. They only seemed to be bothered about the big main streets but not the little back streets.
“Every day there’s litter. A litter picker will come very rarely and it will look nice for a day and then it’s back to how it was.
“There’s cigarettes, packets of food, fly-tipped furniture and household items. There was a sofa that had been there for weeks.”
Mrs Simpson is a “city council cleaning champion” for the street, having signed up last year.
She added: “They were supposed to support you and you support them - to send out litter pickers and bin bags and set up a team to go out and litter pick - but they never came.”
Councillor Sally Longford, portfolio holder for energy and environment at Nottingham City Council, said: “We have alerted our teams to the situation in Radford and this will be cleared up either this afternoon [Monday] or tomorrow morning.
“It’s disappointing to see rubbish left in the street like this because there is absolutely no reason for residents to fly-tip when we offer a free bulky-waste collection. We want local people to take pride in their neighbourhood and make an effort to keep it clean.
“Fly-tipping is illegal and perpetrators can be fined £300 or get prosecuted in court, leading to an even larger fine of up to £50,000.
“Don’t risk this. It couldn’t be easier to book a bulky-waste collection – simply go online at www. nottinghamcity.gov.uk/bulkywaste or call 0115 915 2000 and get large household items removed for free.”