Over eight tonnes of waste cleared in Big Town Centre Clean-Up

Over eight tonnes of litter, overgrown vegetation and fly-tipped waste has been removed from Swindon town centre by volunteers working alongside council teams as part of The Big Town Centre Clean-Up.

Launched in response to feedback from residents, visitors and businesses, the initiative saw Swindon Borough Council focus existing resources throughout August on improving the appearance of key public spaces across the town centre.

While the majority of the Council’s budget is spent providing essential social care services, around 15 per cent funds all other local services, including the maintenance of public spaces. In the town centre, this includes emptying litter bins up to four times a day and maintaining public realm areas.

As part of The Big Town Centre Clean-Up, council teams intensified resources on the town centre to carry out a range of improvement works, including:

• removing graffiti from council-owned property
• jet washing pedestrianised areas
• clearing weeds and overgrown vegetation
• specialist cleaning of the Golden Lion statue on Bridge Street
• repairing paving affected by tree roots and removing redundant tree grilles in Wharf Green
• installing new planters in Wharf Green
• removing obsolete lighting from trees in Havelock Square and Wharf Green
• removing obsolete overhead lighting and bunting in Theatre Square

More than 250 volunteers took part in 11 community clean-up sessions, supporting a variety of projects across the town centre. Their efforts included:

• litter picking across key town centre locations
• clearing weeds, vegetation and fly-tipped waste from the pathway between Brunel North car park and Wharf Green, and from roads and alleyways off Crombey Street
• sanding and varnishing benches in Wharf Green and along Canal Walk
• refurbishing planters in Wharf Green and Theatre Square
• removing graffiti from the fountain sculpture at Regent Street and Canal Walk, and from glazing at the former Tented Market building

A team of volunteers from British Gas spent two days clearing the equivalent of 20 full Ford Transit van loads of building waste from inside the Tented Market building.

Other organisations providing volunteers included Zurich, UK Shared Business Services, The Brunel Shopping Centre, Penshurst Construction, TSS Total Security Services and Whitecroft Scaffolding & Construction.

The Council also worked with the Probation Service to organise three Community Payback sessions in the town centre, with participants removing graffiti and pruning trees as part of the unpaid work element of their sentences.

Councillor Kevin Parry, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Recycling and Streetscene, said: “The Big Town Centre Clean-Up has made a real and visible difference to the appearance of our town centre. The response from volunteers has been outstanding with more than 250 people giving up their time to work alongside council teams, helping us achieve far more than we could have done alone.

“It shows the strength of community spirit in Swindon and demonstrates how much people care about the town centre and want to play a part in improving it.”

Councillor Matthew Vallender, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Planning and Regeneration, said: “While around 95 per cent of the land and buildings in the town centre are privately owned, the Council continues to play an important role in maintaining and improving public spaces.

“The Big Town Centre Clean-Up brought together residents, volunteers, businesses, community groups and the Council to deliver noticeable improvements in a relatively short period of time. I would like to thank everyone who took part. Their contribution has helped create a cleaner, more welcoming town centre for everyone who lives, works and visits Swindon.”