A group of volunteers who say they’re fed up of a lack of action in keeping Spalding clean took it upon themselves to blitz the town centre at the weekend.
The ten members of The Wombles of Spalding Common group are no strangers to picking up litter in and around the town in their own time.
But at the weekend they also carried out weeding in the town centre beds while encouraging shop owners to help them clear up.
“We just wanted to call out South Holland District Council for their failures,” said the group’s Peter Bird. “We’re fed up with the lack of action.
“We’ve had some members no longer participate after becoming despondent as long term grot spots they’ve helped clear up are becoming increasingly worse.
“Bins go un-emptied for weeks and piles of black and green bags are continuously present.
“The street wardens have proven to be ineffective.
“They could at least carry a picker and hoop and engage with the public.
“We went out and did the litter picking in town as usual, but also went out weeding around Boots, The Pied Calf, Market Place and Red Lion Street.
“We had a great reaction and a number of shop owners came out and helped tidy up.
“One of the worst things was cigarette ends.
“There were loads outside Bet Fred, so I asked them to at least once a week clean it up.
“I asked the same at Mercure where they told me they’re not allowed to have an ashtray outside because ‘it’s a health and safety hazard’.”
The Wombles have regularly raised concerns about rubbish collection points with their volunteer Sam Smith-Dale having been shocked at the amount of litter at frequent grot spot Ayscough Avenue recently.
“Some months ago cameras were put in place I believed as a deterrent and to issue fines to those that were abusing the area,” she said. “I had a conversation with someone involved in that a few weeks ago.
“I wanted to know how many fines had been issued as things had improved a little.
“I was expecting lots of fines, as there should have been but I was told there had only been a few and they didn’t know why.
“These cameras cost thousands. What a total waste of money!
“Had I been in their position, I would have insisted on viewing hours of footage myself and making sure those abusing the area paid the price with a nice costly fine.”
Coun Anthony Casson, South Holland District Council portfolio holder for public protection, said: “We continue to take a pro-active approach to enforcement across the district, identifying and targeting hotspots for activity such as Winsover Road, Victoria Street and Ayscough Avenue in Spalding.
“Through a combination of routine patrols by our Enviro-crime Officers and criminal investigations a number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) have already been issued for offences such as littering and fly-tipping in 2024.
“The council works with town centre residents to provide education on their responsibilities for storing and presenting waste on their collection days, and the team will continue to patrol these areas going forward and take action wherever the evidence enables us to do so.
“Camera technology has also been used within the district to capture evidence of fly-tippers, whilst also serving as an effective deterrent to prevent would-be offenders from carrying out crimes. In Ayscough Avenue there was no fly-tipping captured whilst the camera was in place, although FPNs have been issued in this location for fly-tipping and mis-presentation offences.”
