- Dan Fedigan with a bag of litter he collected at the bus stop in Westerleigh Lane
A LYDE Green resident has started a volunteer group to pick up the “disgusting amount of litter” left lying on the area’s verges.
Dan Fedigan says the problem is particularly bad on roads and paths around the metrobus stops in Westerleigh Lane, between the Bristol & Bath Science Park and National Composites Centre, including Howsmoor Lane.
He says the problem is made worse because there are no litter bins at the stop, which means some people dump cans and coffee cups after they get off the bus instead of taking them home or walking to the bins at the science park.
Dan, who uses the stop to travel to work in Filton, said: “Even if people want to act responsibly, they can’t.
“I have asked Emersons Green Town Council about bins and they say that South Glos Council will not adopt the roads in Lyde Green until the development is finished.
“I’m not blaming the council for people being lazy, but the worse it gets, the more people think they can just throw things anywhere.”
Dan decided to start his own clean-up and, after taking a litter picker with him to the stop and filling a bag with about 30 cans in 10 minutes, he set up a group, Lyde Green Litter Pickers.
The group will meet at 10.30am on the first Sunday of the month outside Lyde Green Community Centre and has a website at cleanupuk.org.uk/groups/lyde-green-litter-pickers for people to get in touch.
Litter collection in Lyde Green is currently the responsibility of management company GreenSquareAccord, but the firm said it did not cover the area by the bus stops.
A spokesperson said: “We are sorry that some of our customers in Lyde Green are being impacted by littering in the local area.
“South Gloucestershire Council empty the bins at our Lyde Green development, by arrangement, in the public space areas. We also clear litter or dumped items within our area of maintenance.”
The company urged people to report problems via its website at greensquareaccord.co.uk/contact.
A South Gloucestershire Council spokesperson said that the majority of the area was still the responsibility of the developers.
The spokesperson said a bin at the Westerleigh Lane stop had been targeted by arsonists more than once and it was decided not to replace it as there were other bins in Dirac Crescent, but the authority was “exploring the possibility of installing new bins” at the stops.
The Science Park management had also been asked to monitor litter levels.