'We couldn't walk down the road': Community garden project cleaning up one of Northampton's most fly-tipped streets

A community garden project brightening up the area in one of the worst fly-tipped streets in Northampton has called for more support.

Dumped sofas, mattresses and bags of rubbish are a regular sight for people living on Semilong Road.

West Northamptonshire Council revealed last week that the single street had 672 reports of fly-tipping within the last year- an average of nearly 13 rubbish dumping incidents a week.

But Lou Troy, a mum living in the area, has taken it into her own hands to fight back against the offenders and reclaim the streets by planting a community garden and making the neighbourhood a place to be proud of.

She said she first started the project outside her own doorstep and transformed the heavily fly-tipped area into a mini urban garden- reusing abandoned tyres as flower planters.

Lou said: “We literally couldn’t walk down the road. It was depressing, it was devastating.

“When I walked out to the fields over Kingsthorpe way I’d always feel this feeling of release getting in a green space.”

Since the first tyres were planted in October 2022, Lou said the stretch of road has remained free of fly-tipping. The plan then hatched to add more of the colourful additions along the road and reimagine the area from a fly-tipping hub to a welcoming community space.

The group now share their hard work and volunteering opportunities on their Facebook page Green Spaces Semilong.

She explained: “Fly-tipping got particularly bad during the pandemic. I’d say around here it’s definitely improved since then because of the work that we’ve done.

“Actually there’s so many people who live in Semilong who are really lovely and really want to improve the area and really care about it for the sake of their wellbeing and their children’s wellbeing.

“It’s about getting the awareness but also just people turning up and coming along and helping. If we all join forces then we can tackle this fly-tipping epidemic because it’s unacceptable.”

The main area the group is now focused on restoring sits at the end of Semilong Road, behind the children’s playground and basketball pitch. Lou said once the area is clear the group is looking to open it up for the community one night a week to work on the garden and bring people together.

She has also called for the council to help them in their efforts to regenerate and make the area presentable by replacing the playpark equipment, which she said has been “neglected”.

The project was initially made possible through a £700 grant from Northampton Town Council to start on the garden.

Jane Birch, a town councillor who helped get the project off the ground, said: “Places that just don’t look cared for and don’t have ownership in the community become the place where everybody goes and dumps their rubbish. It makes a difference when somebody takes the time, trouble, effort and energy to do something positive.

“The more it happens the more people think ‘we’re not going to accept the fly-tipping and rubbish’. People will think twice perhaps before they throw their furniture on the street or drop their rubbish out of their car doors.

“It’s a very small step to start with but I’m so pleased they’re taking place. People don’t want to live knee-deep in litter, they don’t want to live with other people’s fridges and mattresses and beds and furniture on the street.

“These little green shoots of optimism that are springing up are great to see and I’m really pleased the town council are able to support that.”