Litter picking peril in Dorset By Liz Turner
C
Whilst many are ‘cleaning for the queen’, Dorset residents are ashamed of litter strewn along the A31
lean for The Queen is a campaign to clear up Britain in time for her 90th birthday, which will be officially celebrated in June. Local residents have been proud to take part and towns and villages are looking spick and span. But not our roads. Far from experiencing England’s green and pleasant land, motorists are faced with swathes of rubbish selfishly dumped along the A31. Food packaging, plastic wrapping, paper, cardboard, bottles, broken road cones and lights, - just some of the rubbish ruining our roadsides. “It’s embarrassing,” said one resident who wished to remain anonymous. “I’m ashamed when I have visitors, especially from the US and they have to drive along the A31. Surely something can be done.” Anne Edwards added: “I know the Queen is unlikely to be driving along this road but it would be lovely if it could be tidied for the local people.”
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4DORSET May 2016
The problem, explained Dorset Waste Partnership is that tiding up rubbish is not a simple matter of going out and picking it up. When asked about the litter, Michael Moon, Head of Operations at DWP said: “We are aware that a lot of litter can currently be seen alongside some of Dorset’s roads and completely share your frustrations. The Dorset Waste Partnership and our partner councils are committed to keeping Dorset tidy and, like yourself, we are concerned about the impression of the county that litter on our roads creates. “Unfortunately, the problem is a national one. Following a fatality, there was a change in health and safety legislation in the UK that requires all work on roads, including litter-picking, to have traffic management in compliance with the Department for Transport’s code of practice for safety at street and road works.” He explained: “We have had to use specialist contractors to provide traffic management and need to book the road space in advance, which means that areas take longer to clean. “We also work with highways colleagues and utilities companies to pick litter while planned works are taking place but, inevitably, some roads have not been litter-picked for some time.” There is some good news for those using the A31 between Ashley Heath and Ferndown. “DWP is currently talking to approved contractors about litter picking the A31 between Ashley Heath and Ferndown and if possible this will be done as soon as permission is given by Highways England, and by the next bank holiday weekend.” He added that the team is aware of the litter between Ferndown and the Roundabout at Sturminster Marshall and he’s working closely with the highways teams to organise something as soon as possible.