Letter: Litter Attracts Litter

Published on: 10 Apr, 2019
Updated on: 10 Apr, 2019

From Michael Ashworth

Since the A3 approaching Guildford from the north, around the outskirts of the town and up to the A31 junction has been turned into a litter and waste disposal area, I guess there must a reason why GBC cannot or will not put plans in place to have this cleared up.

Litter attracts litter. If we leave it as it is people travelling around our beautiful town will conclude it is a wide-area rubbish tip and continue to lob litter out of their car windows. Travellers will leave our area with the impression that Guildford is a tip and flinging rubbish out of car windows is expected.

Are there any volunteers to help me bag all this rubbish? Let’s get our yellow jackets on and do some litter picking. In fact, I may make a start and make myself a bit obvious to anyone driving past.

Response from Fiona West Lib Dem county councillor for Guildford West:

I have checked and it is Guildford Borough Council who are responsible for cleaning along the A3 from the Ripley area through the borough.

Because of weather conditions and darkness, they don’t clean so often during winter months but the programme starts again in March. The calendar of dates for closing road lanes to pick litter for 2019 are up on the council’s website though this link: https://www.guildford.gov.uk/trunkroadcleaning.

I understand why residents are upset by litter. It doesn’t give a good impression of Guildford.

Having said that, I wouldn’t want anyone to put themselves at risk by trying to do a litter pick. Where there are public footpaths alongside the road it can be done safely on those paths but people should not reach over the crash barriers onto the live carriageway or do anything that might distract drivers in a very busy section.

I hope this helps.

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