community clean up ahead of bonfire night

Four skips full of waste, old fridges, sofas, and other rubbish have been cleared from a County Durham neighbourhood in a multi-agency operation in a bid to clean the streets ahead of Bonfire Night.

Staff from believe housing worked with Durham County Council’s Clean and Green Team, local councillors and residents to clean up the Deneside area of Seaham.

The operation was held during the last week of October, to remove potentially dangerous rubbish from the area ahead of Bonfire Night.

Residents filled four community skips with bulky waste, and six sofas, 15 fridges and 21 tyres were removed. Weeds were cleared from car parking bays, 20 large tree branches were taken away and 33 bags of litter were collected.

Julie Dower, Neighbourhood Manager at believe housing, said: “This was a tremendous team effort by the partners, who all want our communities to be safe and pleasant places to live.

“Unfortunately, there have been a high number of fires in the Deneside area of Seaham.

“By reducing rubbish in the neighbourhood before Bonfire Night, we’ve not only made the area look and feel better for residents but also taken away material that could be burned.”

The ‘Make a Difference in Deneside’ initiative was supported and part funded by Durham County Councillors for the Deneside ward, Rochelle Charlton-Lainé and John Purvis.

Councillor Charlton-Lainé said: “Throughout our time of being elected, we have had many messages from residents about fly tipping and mindless fires that have been set to burn excess rubbish and household waste.

“This project has shown teamwork at its best, we had multiple stakeholders looking after residents, working together to create a better environment for all.

“We would like to thank everyone for their efforts.”