More than eight tonnes of litter, weeds, overgrown vegetation and fly-tipped rubbish have been cleared from Swindon town centre during a month-long clean-up involving hundreds of volunteers.
The Big Town Centre Clean-Up was launched by Swindon Borough Council following feedback from residents, businesses and visitors who wanted to see improvements to the appearance of the town centre.
Throughout August, council teams concentrated existing resources on a series of projects aimed at giving some of the town’s best-known public spaces a much-needed tidy-up.
The work included removing graffiti from council-owned buildings, jet washing pedestrian areas, clearing weeds and overgrown vegetation and carrying out specialist cleaning of the Golden Lion statue on Bridge Street.
In Wharf Green, paving damaged by tree roots was repaired, redundant tree grilles were removed and new planters installed. Obsolete lighting and bunting were also removed from trees and buildings in Havelock Square, Wharf Green and Theatre Square.
But it wasn’t just council staff doing the work.
More than 250 volunteers took part in 11 community clean-up sessions, tackling everything from litter picking to clearing overgrown areas, fly-tipped waste and graffiti.
Volunteers cleared the pathway between Brunel North car park and Wharf Green, as well as roads and alleyways around Crombey Street. They also sanded and varnished benches in Wharf Green and along Canal Walk, refurbished planters and cleaned graffiti from the fountain sculpture at Regent Street and Canal Walk.
A team from British Gas spent two days inside the former Tented Market building, removing the equivalent of 20 full Ford Transit van loads of building waste.
Other businesses and organisations lending a hand included Zurich, UK Shared Business Services, The Brunel Shopping Centre, Penshurst Construction, TSS Total Security Services and Whitecroft Scaffolding & Construction.
The Council also joined forces with the Probation Service for three Community Payback sessions, with participants carrying out unpaid work including removing graffiti and pruning trees.
Councillor Kevin Parry, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Recycling and Streetscene, said the response from volunteers had been “outstanding”.
“The Big Town Centre Clean-Up has made a real and visible difference to the appearance of our town centre.
“It shows the strength of community spirit in Swindon and demonstrates how much people care about the town centre and want to play a part in improving it.”
Councillor Matthew Vallender, Cabinet Member for Culture, Planning and Regeneration, said the Council still had an important role to play despite around 95 per cent of land and buildings in the town centre being privately owned.
He said the clean-up had brought together residents, businesses, community groups, volunteers and the Council to make noticeable improvements in a relatively short period.
The Council says around 15 per cent of its budget covers services outside essential social care, including the maintenance of public spaces. In the town centre, that includes emptying litter bins as often as four times a day and maintaining the public realm.
The latest clean-up is now being held up as an example of what can be achieved when council teams and the wider community work together.
With more than eight tonnes of waste removed, the difference should be hard to miss.
