Northants Litter Wombles ‘delighted’ with MPs’ response to ‘slippery slope’ issue during Parliament visit

The Northants Litter Wombles paid a visit to the Houses of Parliament last week, in a bid to tackle the “slippery slope” littering issue across the county and beyond.

The litter picking group, which has more than 3,000 members, approached Andrew Lewer MP for the opportunity to meet with the county’s MPs and express their worries about littering and fly tipping in the area.

Earlier in the year, the group’s chair Sally Romain spoke to this newspaper about her growing concerns about the “deeply embarrassing” littering on Northamptonshire’s main A roads.

Now, after being invited to the Houses of Parliament last Tuesday (June 20), 10 committee members and group leaders had the chance to address the county’s MPs directly.

Following an “interesting and historical” tour of Westminster Hall, the group members delivered a presentation in the evening – which they hoped would inspire MPs to undertake steps against the growing problem.

There was representation from all the Womble groups from across the county – Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Daventry and Brackley.

Ahead of the visit, Sally described a “wish list” of action points the group would like to see introduced – including greater enforcement and fines, ensuring National Highways commit to clearing the roads in partnership with local authorities regularly, and tips being open for seven days a week.

“Our main concerns were the infrequency of the litter being cleared from the M1 and major A roads, and the fact household recycling centres are shut two days a week which encourages fly tipping,” said Sally.

“Enforcement isn’t taken seriously with the low fines and it doesn’t have the publicity it should.”

Though the visitors were hoping to meet all seven Northamptonshire MPs, they were pleased to meet a good number – Andrew Lewer, Philip Hollobone, Tom Pursglove and Sir Michael Ellis.

Sally said: “They listened extremely well to the presentation and asked fantastic questions. We came away with some definite positive outcomes that were simple but pleasing.”

The MPs suggested hosting a litter summit in the autumn, involving all the county’s MPs, and councillors from the North and West Northamptonshire Councils that hold portfolios for environment and waste.

They would also like to secure the attendance of the environment and litter ministers at the event, which would be based in Westminster.

The four MPs in attendance also committed to being proactive in ensuring litter is included in all party manifestos in advance of the upcoming elections.

The third commitment was to ensure WNC and NNC know the Northants Litter Wombles have the support of each of the seven MPs – and they will be “committed to working alongside the elected members in the various councils on litter”.

When asked if she believed their message was received loud and clear by the MPs, Sally said: “I’m hopeful as they were all sincere.

“They were impressed with how far the Wombles have come in such a short space of time. They said we are well organised and they knew who we were because of our great reputation.

“We’re very delighted to get the policy and lawmakers on board with changing people’s behaviour.

“We raised examples of mandatory seat belt wearing and no smoking inside. We need something similar with litter picking as it is all about enforcement.

“This needs to be a national collective where we all bat the same way.”

Sally is also part of an East Midlands group, where representatives from litter picking groups across the region have regular meetings.

If the MPs from those areas – namely Leicestershire, Peterborough, Warwickshire and Derbyshire – got on board with the plan of action, Sally says it would be a “powerful thing”.

“It was a good day all round,” said Sally. “We’ve already had an offer from Sir Micheal Ellis to come on a litter pick with us.

“The litter summit is going to be the answer, as we will be at the heart of the policy and lawmakers.”

For more information on the work of the Northants Litter Wombles, visit their website here.