OLDHAM Council is set to carry out a deep clean of every district in the borough over the coming months.
It’s part of the council’s new ‘Don’t Trash Oldham’ campaign which will see an extra £1.27m invested in street cleaning.
Councillors this week agreed plans which will see more ‘boots on the ground’ – including new street cleaners, enforcement staff and fly-tipping clearance teams.
The first clean-up is expected to take place in early September and will see council staff sweep and clear waste from roads, streets, alleys and public open spaces.
Starting in the centre of the borough, it is planned for the whole of Oldham to be covered in a rolling programme.
Residents will be informed via leaflets and social media when the initiative is taking place in their local area..
Councillor Arooj Shah, Leader of Oldham Council, said: “When I took the role of council leader, I pledged that cleaning up our streets was a priority, because we know that it’s important to residents.
“That’s why we are investing an extra £1.27m in staff and resources to tackle the issue.
“Our staff are out there seven days a week, in all weathers. These additional teams will give their efforts a real boost.
“Unfortunately, some people persist with littering and fly-tipping, and we have to clean it up. Ultimately this costs residents almost £2,500 a day when you take into account staff time, running vehicles and waste disposal costs. That’s a lot of money over the course of a year.
“I’d like to say to residents ‘work with us’. We’ll come and clean up your area but then we need to work together to keep it clean. It’s impossible for us to keep coming back doing these deep cleans regularly.”
The new clean-up campaign was launched during Love Parks Week (July 23 to August).
Since the pandemic started, there has been a rise in the number of people visiting parks and green spaces.
However, this has led to a big increase in the amount of litter, fly-tipping and waste collected from beauty spots and streets.
Councillor Amanda Chadderton, Deputy Leader of Oldham Council and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, joined street cleaners at Royton Park to see the mountain of waste collected from across the borough in just three days.
Cllr Chadderton said: “No one wants to live in a tip – people have got to start taking responsibility for their actions, rather than letting others clean up after them.
“Over the last 16 months we’ve seen the best in some people but also some idiotic and criminal behaviour.
“We all want a cleaner place to live so everyone needs to do their bit – dispose of your waste properly.
“If you don’t, we’ll look for evidence and if we find it, we’ll take enforcement action against you.”