Waterman's Park river frontage rubbish
I recently got in touch with the Director of 'Thames 21', (the charity that works to clean up the river and canal environment), regarding dangerous debris breaking loose from some of the derelict boats littering the foreshore here.Here's his reply:" I am familiar with this area and Thames21 and the PLA have been involved in several clean-ups there over the years, but as far as I am aware there hasn’t been one recently. Because of the nature of the river in that area, debris gets washed in on the tide and then does not leave. There is also a substantial amount of debris from buildings alongside the river, derelict boats and local dumping of rubbish.Thames21 and the PLA can help remove this litter if there are volunteers willing to come out and clear it up. There is no statutory duty to remove litter from the Thames, but we do take out about 750 tonnes each year in partnership with the PLA. Is there a large enough group of people who would be willing to come out and help out? If so, then we would happily provide the tools and equipment and the PLA would be able to remove the waste collected in baskets, floating skips and even punts. There are obviously issues about access for the Driftwood Craft, but we have done things there in the past so it should be possible.I am going on leave tomorrow, so won’t be able to arrange anything for a week or so, but if you can get the support of some volunteers then we can schedule something in sometime after September." So, any volunteers? Anyone know how to recruit them? We've had the very occasional comment on eyesores, this is a chance to do something, even if it's only persuading healthy young people to do it for us!
Nigel Moore ● 7640d90 Comments