NEWLY-ELECTED Tameside councillor Dan Costello has continued on his mission to tidy up his ward with a series of summer litter picks, which the whole community was invited to get involved in.
Despite disappointing weather, turnout was surprisingly good over the three sessions, leading to 27 bags of litter being collected from the Ashton Hurst area.
Following on from the Great British Spring Clean sessions Conservative Cllr Costello organised back in June, as well as a session with a local primary school, there have now been eight community litter picks organised since he was elected in May, which have collected a combined 119 bags of litter.
Commenting on the latest sessions, Cllr Costello said: “We had a fantastic response from the local Hurst community again.
“I couldn’t believe how many people were willing to get absolutely soaked in order to help keep our local area clean and tidy.
“There’s a social media hashtag which describes volunteers as litter heroes – there is no more fitting description of the group that turned up to these three sessions!
“I’ve been humbled by the community response to my initiative to tidy up Hurst. We’ve collected 119 bags of litter during eight sessions.
“Back in May, I promised that I would make sure Hurst residents had the right to live in a clean and tidy area, and that is exactly what we are on the way to achieving.
“Clearly litter picking is dealing with the symptoms rather than the cause and we’d all prefer the litter not to be there in the first place.
“I believe education is key to improving the situation long-term, which is why I’m also working with local schools and schoolchildren to get the message out about the importance of caring for our community and keeping it tidy.
“In the meantime, I’ll keep organising sessions to remove litter from our streets and I’ll always be grateful for volunteers giving up their time to make these a success.
“Look out for a festive series of litter picks – possibly with Christmas jumpers and Santa hats!”