The Tidy Triax litter hotline which was launched earlier this week is already having an impact in a number of areas of the city, one of the organisers has said.
The anti-litter campaign, which is being organised by the Triax neighbourhood management team (NMT) in association with the Derry Journal, has already co-ordinated clean-up operations in Creggan and the Bogside.
Colm Barton from the Triax NMT said
calls to the hotline had identified two locations, one in the rear of Gartan Square and another in Creggan, where rubbish had been dumped. The Tidy Triax team then worked with Derry City Council and the Housing Executive to have the areas cleaned up.
Commenting on the early success of the 'Journal'-backed campaign, Mr. Barton said; "Obviously with any new initiative we were unsure of how it would be received but to date we are very pleased with the response of both the agencies and the local community. We have received a number of calls from local residents about illegal dumping, litter and such and we are pursuing these. Already we have seen some positive results across the area and we are keen to build on our excellent start," he said.
Mr. Barton also said good working relationships have already been established between the Tidy Triax team and the statutory agencies. "In the last week we have had an excellent response from both Derry City Council Cleansing Department and the Housing Executive's Waterloo Place Office and together with the installation of 60 litter bins across the area and the Tidy TRIAX message we are promoting we are confident residents are starting to see a difference," he said.
While he welcomed the co-operation, Mr. Barton also said the easiest way to solve the problem was for people to stop dumping rubbish illegally.
"Whilst we really appreciate the support and assistance of the Council and Executive at the end of the day the quickest and best solution to this ultimately problem rests with people. We all need to be doing more preventative and educational work and ultimately we need to be creating a zero tolerance approach to dirty streets. In order to achieve this we will all need to play our part," he said.
TIDY TRIAX HOTLINE: Bogside, Brandywell, Bishop Street, Fountain 028 7126 1916; Creggan 028 71 2819 000, Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm; Friday 10am to 3pm.
