Tidy Our Town: ‘Seeing a horrendous fly tip makes it feel like Northampton has taken 10 steps back’

Concerned resident Viktorija Bahvalova reached out to this newspaper about a fly tip she noticed in Semilong, on a very visible area of the grass on the main Barrack Road.

Viktorija was horrified that despite being so close to one of the busiest routes into the town centre, no one stopped to do anything about it.

This resident is a mother, and she and her child often take to the streets to litter pick and make a difference to their area. Viktorija has explained to her child about why they have to do their bit and why people choose to fly tip, which is an unfortunate reality.

The mother explained her anger at this continued lack of respect for the environment, and says she was “shocked” at how bad this particular fly tip is in Semilong.

We, at the Chronicle & Echo, share Viktorija’s frustrations and sadly, seeing a fly tip like this makes it seem like the goal of eradicating these issues is still so far in the distance.

The hard work of the Northants Litter Wombles cannot be disputed. With more than 4,500 individuals who are part of the volunteer group’s Facebook page, it is no wonder the purple army hit the impressive milestone of collecting 100,000 bags of litter earlier this year.

But large pieces of furniture dumped at the side of the road is not something they can tackle, nor should they have to.

West Northamptonshire Council is continuing to encourage the use of their website and app to report littering and fly tipping issues – but why should members of our community be allowed to get away with being so disrespectful in the first place?

It is important to call out this behaviour as it happens, to prevent more eyesore fly tips cropping up across the town like this one in Semilong.

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