Tidy Our Town: Litter Womble reflects on ‘really positive developments’ one year on from campaign launch

It was in February 2024 when the Chronicle & Echo began collaborating with the Northants Litter Wombles – and 41 stories have since been published in the hope of tackling the issue of littering and fly tipping.

Over the next four days, a Tidy Our Town story will be published daily to mark a year since the campaign launch.

Northants Litter Wombles committee member Mark Watson, who has been an advocate for Tidy Our Town, mentioned the “scores of new and really active volunteers” off the back of it.

“It has definitely helped us get a lot of new volunteers and followers on the Facebook group,” he said. “It has encouraged other people and we welcome in the fresh blood.”

Not only is there great work going on at the heart of Northampton, but areas across the wider county which have their own groups – including Corby, Wellingborough and Brackley, just to name a few.

Mark said: “We all come under the same umbrella and we try to represent everybody. They do a great job in those places and it’s important to acknowledge their work.”

The committee member praised the “really good support” from a number of Parish Councils across West Northamptonshire. It was Upton Parish Council which helped secure a new bin in a litter hotspot, which is an issue the Wombles regularly bang the drum about.

Continuing to reflect on the past year, Mark said: “One thing we’ve noticed is there is much less old rubbish. We used to find cans that would be 15 plus years old.

“We’re finding less of those now and that’s an indication that we have cleared out a good chunk of the historic rubbish – but it is being replaced by new litter.”

Mark praised the help of West Northamptonshire Council in the provision of their purple bags, increased fixed penalty notices through their litter warden scheme, and the use of anti-littering messages on electronic signs. The latter is something that Mark would like to see introduced again in 2025.

The Northants Litter Wombles were also pleased to see that the six tips across West Northamptonshire will be open seven days a week from April.

“There are movements in the right direction and we’ve achieved a lot in terms of raising awareness,” said Mark.

“We’ve reached a steady state of litter on the ground, and we’re clearing up as quickly as it is being put down. We need more volunteers and the authorities to do more to stop it in the first place. Education and anti-littering messages are the missing pieces of the puzzle.”

Mark believes littering and fly tipping all boil down to tolerance, and everyone needs to be encouraged not to make negative choices.

He continued: “It’s very hard to clear the rubbish up but easy for people to throw it down. There’s an imbalance in the ease of the two, and there needs to be a disincentive for throwing litter.

“People can say litter is not important and less should be spent because of pressures elsewhere – but it causes economic harm and reduced investment that will make the town poorer and poorer.”

Mark emphasised that education and enforcement are key to zero tolerance, which he and the Northants Litter Wombles hope to see more of throughout 2025.

If you would like to get involved in the Tidy Our Town campaign, established in collaboration with the Northants Litter Wombles, email [email protected].

To get involved and find out more, you can join the Northants Litter Wombles Facebook page here.