PEOPLE power has helped ensure a town centre eysore has been cleared by Warrington Borough Council – five weeks after being first reported.
Fly-tipping at the rear of the old Woolworths store on Barbauld Street, outraged town centre visitors after a huge, overflowing skip was left over flowing following renovation works on the former Carlton Club, which is being converted into apartments.
It became so full that a huge amount of waste built up around the area causing an unsightly mess and serious environmental health issue with sightings of vermin.
Most of the waste was discarded cardboard packaging. When asked about the cause of the mess local businesses claimed that it was the result of fly tipping.
The eyesore has sparked outrage on social media from people visiting the town centre, with many urging the council to take action.
Local resident Harry Tranter first flagged the eysore on social media on December 2nd and soon dozens of people were calling on the council to clear the eyesore.
warrington-worldwide joined the campaign and were assured work was ongoing to have the site cleared.
The site was eventually cleared today January 6th.
A source close to the council said: “This was a long and complex investigation involving several private companies. Because of limited resources and the detailed legal process that has to be followed with incidents of this type it has taken a considerable amount of time.
“Although investigations are ongoing, our street cleaning teams have visited the site and cleared it. It is unfortunate that council tax payers are left to foot the bill for commercial businesses who should be taking care of their own waste.”
The eyesore site – Picture Paul Jackson
2 Comments
Excellent news and well done ‘people power’. It looked a right mess and although I fully appreciate that the Council should not have to clear up other peoples messes nor should they (well we the tax payer) foot any costs….in this case the longer it was being left the worse it was getting week on week with even more was dumped there. I hope the investigation does eventually result in those responsible being given a hefty fine to cover the costs !!
Have to say though that having followed the story and social media rants and discussions over the weeks, some of which were made between irate members of the public and Clr Russ Bowden only last night on social media, I certainly wasn’t expecting it all to be finally cleared as soon as today. Guess the penny finally dropped that people were disgusted and action was needed NOW 😀
Highly flammable material, stacked directly beneath the windows of the building, what would have happened if a fire had broken out and totally gutted that building?