People living and working in a street in Tolworth are hoping to reclaim their road plagued by flytipping and anti-social behaviour.
Broad Oaks, a service road behind Tolworth Broadway, is unadopted so the council does not have any responsibilities for the upkeep of the road.
This has led to regular flytipping, as well as 88 incidents of anti-social behaviour in 2015, so a group of residents have set up a clean-up to try and take control of their road.
Helen Shipp, 60, said: “I’ve lived here for around 17 years and it can be very unpleasant.
“Once somebody has littered here, it multiplies and just gets worse and worse.
“It’s particularly bad this time of the year, with all the wind, it blows everything everywhere. The street looks like a rubbish tip.
“It attracts people to come round and sit there drinking and leave their rubbish here.
“I hope this clean-up will not just make the road look better but will also encourage people to feel like it’s their community.
“They should then take more responsibility and explain to their neighbours where they should put their rubbish and feel empowered to say something if they see someone flytipping.
“It’s never going to be perfect but I hope this will do more than just clean up, it will build community spirit.”
The clean-up will take place on March 6 between 9am and 2pm and is organised by Broad Oaks Action Group, which Mrs Shipp is part of.
It is also linked to a national scheme, Clean for The Queen, which aims to clear up Britain in time for Her Majesty’s 90th birthday in June.
Funding comes from a grant from Kingston Council’s Your Money You Decide scheme, which involves residents deciding which community projects get a share of £30,000.
Mrs Shipp is looking for volunteers and anyone interested should contact her at [email protected].
