Saturday, 20th January 2007

10am - 2pm

As part of the Poole Partnership's 'Closing the Gap'  initiative, a multi-agency project team organised a clean-up of the Bourne Estate assisted by volunteers of all ages. 

Poole Council's Environmental & Consumer Protection Services (ECPS), local residents, Council employees, the Dorset Police Rossmore Safer Neighbourhood Team and Ward Councillors united to remove an amazing 17.9 tonnes of waste from local homes & gardens.

Free skips were provided at two locations - in the Bourne Valley Youth Centre car park and at the entrance to Alderney Recreation Ground in Turbary Close.

The 10am start was greeted by what was to be a continual flow of residents bringing unwanted items for removal.

By 2pm the waste collected filled 15 skips, one refuse truck & 4 flatbed trucks, and included:

• 4 skips full of metals

• 4 skips full of wood

• Approximately 80 fridges/freezers & other white goods

• Numerous tyres

• Large volumes of garden waste

• ... and a staggering amount of general refuse including many discarded mattresses, sofas, toys and play equipment

Volunteers enthusiastically tackled litter from communal areas collecting over 15 sacks of refuse and 4 sacks of recycling.

Dorset Reclaim, whose principal aim is to provide furniture and household items to those in need within the local community, successfully collected a number of items donated by local residents.

Refreshments were provided at the Youth Centre, with doughnuts and other delights supplied by Tesco Express in Herbert Avenue.

The recent very wet & windy weather held off and we even saw an hour or two of sunshine!

Particular thanks must go to Jim Watson, Les Sadler, Ray Biginton , Dona Rideout , and Ray Chiles from ECPS who worked well into the evening to ensure that all the waste was safely transported away.

Further planned works include a thorough cleanse of the area in March/April utilising the Council's Environmental Response Unit with a further opportunity for residents to volunteer for litter picking duties, following the completion of the road improvement works currently ongoing.