Midsomer Norton's Big Tidy Up

By CarlaEGale | Sunday, January 08, 2012, 17:50

Midsomer Norton's Town Council was delighted with the turn-out for Sunday's Big Tidy Up,

The first team of litter pickers with their bags outside the Town Hall
Rubbish behind Martin's Newsagent
At the end of the day, there was a mountain of rubbish collected around Midsomer Norton's High Street

More than 20 people showed up for the early session of the litter pick which took place from 10-noon and just as many turned out for the second duty from 2pm-4pm.

"It was a great community effort, said Cllr Linda Dunford, "we had lots of new faces turn up too. Just look at what was collected in just two hours."

And by 4pm, there was a mountain of rubbish bags awaiting collection outside the Town Hall.

I took part in the second go-round and must say I found a great satisfaction in working with other community-spirited people in helping improve the appearance of our town. The volunteers, who were all ages, were full of enthusiasm.

Collectors were given reflective jackets, gloves, bags and a teammate and headed off to tackle the rubbish-laden areas in the town, My partner Monica Evans and I worked on the area behind Martins Newsagent, M&Co and the front of Argos.

One resident even braved the cold water to clear rubbish from the River Somer.

I couldn't help wonder after all our hard work, would others respect our community more or will this be a continuous battle?

The next Big Tidy Up will take place on April 1. See our Big Tidy Up picturel gallery

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Comments

Wouldn't it be nice if we had made such a difference and there was no litter to pick up next time. The folk who drop their rubbish need to be made aware how anti social their bad habits are, how to do this I do not know. Just today I saw an unfinished meal shoved in to a hedge who does this, will we ever know. I have never heard of anyone being prosecuted for dropping litter. It is a shame they have no pride or respect for their environment

By LucyE at 17:00 on 13/01/12
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It was a great idea to get people to do their Womble bit this Sunday. It felt that I was doing something positive and gave me a great senses of satisfaction to know that I had helped to keep my little corner of Britain tidy. Hopefully even more people will turn out to help with the BIG tidy when its held again in April.

By Avon & Wessex at 17:12 on 12/01/12
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It was a significant investment of time and effort by a lot of people. It's wonderful that so many care. While it's dispiriting to see the litter re-appear so quickly, it feels better to fight back and make a difference, rather than be passive and grumpy!

By MikeEvans at 12:10 on 10/01/12
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The only sad thing is that all that rubbish we collected will end up in landfill instead of being recycled as the majority of the items cleared were bottles, cans , wrappers and plastic. We need to educate people to use the excellent recycling facilities that our council offers householders. Perhaps if there were some bins specifically for cans and bottles in the High Street the folk who toss away their drinks, even when nearly full may use them.!

By LucyE at 12:04 on 10/01/12
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Hopefully, people will begin to take notice. And the more people who get involved (i.e.) schools and clubs, may mean it may not be such a big effort next time. I was a bit despondent as I walked back through the High Street afterwards that someone left a pop bottle on the pavement outside Bath Bakery. It was only a few minutes after a litter picker had been by, so it saddened me to think all our work had been in vain.

By CarlaEGale at 20:02 on 08/01/12
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