Litter Picking Good!

2.26.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 9th May 2008

Lib Dems Litter-Picking Team - (From left to right)Nick Way, Bob Wright, Sally MOrgan, David Nation & John Downes

Led by Parliamentary Candidate Cllr Sally Morgan, Crediton Lib Dems were out collecting litter as part of Mid Devon District Council's anti litter campaign. The group gathered at Lords Meadow Leisure Centre car park, moving on the Down End, an area on the trading estate that has suffered recently from large groups of young people gathering in their cars to socialise. They completed their stint by moving into the nearby Willow Walk residential area.

Afterwards Sally Morgan said "We were pleased to be able to do our bit to help keep our communities tidy. Especially because the Crediton Climate Action Group is working very effectively with the Chamber of Commerce to make Crediton a plastic bag free town, the number of plastic bags we collected was interesting. In an hour, 5 of us collected 17 bags, mostly from the major supermarkets."

Cllr David Nation, who is Leader of the Lib Dems and Chair of the Scrutiny Committee on Mid Devon District Council, said "The number of cigarette and crisp packets was particularly noticeable in the car parks. It's unfortunate that some car owners would rather drop their litter on the ground outside their car than take it home with them. Perhaps the recent national moves to increase prosecutions for such acts are overdue?" Town and District Councillor Bob Wright was instrumental in getting litter bins installed at the Down End meeting place. He said "I was pleased to see that the youngsters there appear to be using the bins. Much of the litter we collected there was quite old and clearly little to do with those youngsters."

Organiser of the Litter Pick Session, Cllr Nick Way said " We were very pleased to take part in the District Council's 'Big Litter Pick' campaign which our councillors are enthusiastically supporting. We would also like to give this initiative a big push in the Autumn and would be grateful for any ideas residents might have that might encourage others to join in. Please call me on 01363 777903 if you would like to help next time".

The group deposited 4 full bags of litter and a buckled parrot's cage (the cage was buckled, not the parrot) at the Council depot afterwards.