Braintree District Council gave A120 a deep clean.
In March, Braintree District Council supported Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean campaign by undertaking a deep clean along the eight-mile stretch of the A120 within the district, running from the Felsted slip roads to Marks Farm roundabout, via Galley’s Corner.
The deep clean carried out over three weekends involved overnight working with nine members of council staff litter-picking the verges and central reservation and traffic management. Over one and a half tonnes of general rubbish were collected including 93 bags of litter containing fast food packaging, cups, tins, bottles, glass, plastic bags, cans and cigarette packets. Other items included vehicle debris, shredded tyres, road-killed wildlife, wooden fence posts, plastic guttering, builders’ buckets, old carpets and a water tank. In addition, mechanical sweeping of both sides of the carriageway was undertaken during which over 35.7 tonnes of road sweepings were removed.
Councillor Tom Cunningham, Cabinet Member for Transformation, the Environment and Customer Services, and Deputy Leader at Braintree District Council said: “We recognise that some of the items cleared along the A120 related to accidental vehicle damage, however, a large majority of what was litter picked and removed, originated from litter deliberately thrown by passing vehicles or insecure vehicle loads. Littering is a danger to wildlife and nature and causes harm to our environment by releasing greenhouse gases as it slowly breaks down, which contributes to the climate crisis.
“Keep Britain Tidy’s theme this year is ‘The environment belongs to everyone’, so it is up to all of us to take responsibility to keep the environment clean and tidy. The A120 is a major highway running from Hertfordshire to Harwich and meets with other major A-roads and consequently has an extremely high volume of traffic. The stretch in our district is not only used by locals but vehicles that pass through it en route. The vast majority of our residents act responsibly and bin their litter, but to all those who use the road and throw their litter out of the window, our message is simple, use the bright yellow roadside litterbins or drive your litter home.”
“It currently costs Braintree District’s local taxpayers £1.56 million a year to keep our district clean and tidy. The deep clean of the A120 takes place twice a year, with the most recent costing over £31,000. The council has undertaken many littering campaigns over the years encouraging people to use litter bins or take their litter home. We know our residents feel passionate about their local environment and find littering unsightly. This is why there is an army of volunteers, community groups and Green Heart Champions who regularly litter pick to keep their areas clean and tidy. Unfortunately, though, there are still some who don’t dispose of their litter responsibly.”
Braintree District Council would like to thank everyone who takes pride in their local areas and offer their continued help throughout the year.
As the popularity of dash-cams in vehicles increases, the council is asking members of the public for their help. If anyone throws litter from a vehicle and is caught on camera, please send the footage to Braintree District Council’s Street Scene Protection Team: streetscene.enforcement@braintree.gov.uk
The Street Scene Protection Team will follow up any reports received regarding litter offenders and where appropriate issue a Fixed Penalty Notice of £200.