Date: 23/08/2010
Rubbish was the order of the day when volunteers set out on an organised litter pick in Whaley Bridge over the weekend before last.
The end results were impressive, with 28 hours of volunteer work put in, and 21 bags of rubbish collected along with two tyres.
Organised by Whaley Bridge Amenity Society and High Peak Borough Council, the litter pick was part of a three-month "Keeping the High Peak Clean" campaign being staged by the Council and Keep Britain Tidy (KBT).
During August, the initiative is focusing particularly on litter, with the Council and KBT both urging residents to "Get Behind Us" by taking their litter home with them.
John Haken, Executive Councillor for the Environment, said that the Council spent a staggering £1m a year on keeping High Peak's streets clean.
"A lot of this money could easily be saved if a minority of people behaved more responsibly. At a time when every council in the country needs to cut back on its public spending, it's important that we try and reduce our costs in this service, enabling us to spend our budgets on more important environmental services such as more enforcement activity, new litter bins and investment in new equipment.
"Our campaign aims to bring the whole community together to support the Council's commitment to Keeping the High Peak Clean", he explained.
Borough Councillor and Amenity Society chairman John Pritchard added: "Whaley Bridge is a lovely place to live, and the local community is very proud of its town.
"I wasn't surprised by the excellent response to our clean-up as litter picks in other parts of the borough have been very well supported", he paid tribute.