Letter: Keep Aldborough Hatch tidy!

Jenny Chalmers, Aldborough Hatch Defence Association, Spearpoint Gardens, Ilford, writes:

On Saturday, May 22, 23 local residents turned up to the annual, Clean Up the Hatch morning organised by the Aldborough Hatch Defence Association (AHDA).

They concentrated on our green areas including footpaths, shrubberies, ditches and nature reserves and despite the rain and wind, managed to collect an amazing 57 bags in two hours.

Thanks to their efforts Aldborough Hatch now looks like a more pleasant place to live in and wouldn’t it be wonderful if it could stay like that!

However, too many people have the opinion: “I’m not helping because I pay my rates for the council to clean up our mess.”

But wouldn’t it be wonderful if councils didn’t have to spend millions of pounds clearing up after the thoughtlessness of others. The money could then be spent on more needed things such as local amenities and social care.

If a place looks like a dump then people will treat it as a dump.

It is no good walking past a pile of fly-tipped material or litter and muttering: “Tut, tut isn’t that terrible!”

We all have to do more!

Kathleen Morton in the ditch on Aldborough Road North (Image: AHDA)

Report it to the council, take a photograph and fill in the online form, it doesn’t take long.

Educate our children by keeping our front gardens and immediate area litter-free and making them pick it up if they drop anything. Make sure recycle bins have their lids secure and don’t overflow. Don’t throw your rubbish out of car windows!

If you go into any of our green spaces, anything you carry in should be carried out. Take only air and leave only footprints!

If an area looks clean and tidy, people are more likely to keep it that way.

So many thanks to those of you who cared enough to turn up on Saturday and worked so hard to make this area for at least one day in the year, litter-free.

Thanks also to those who have been going out litter picking on their own throughout the pandemic, it is very therapeutic!

Also thanks to St Peter’s for the use of their space and Redbridge Council and Vision for supplying litter-pickers, sacks and collection.

Also a big thank you to local councillors John Howard and Jyotsna Rahman Islam who came along to help.