Calls for action on 'never-ending' litter on A1 stretch in Grantham
The blight of litter along the A1 at Grantham is unlikely to get much better as a council admits it “cannot find a solution” to resolve it.
Residents have criticised South Kesteven District Council’s response to clearing up litter that lines the roadside along the A1, which some believe creates a poor impression of Grantham and affects pride in the town.
However, SKDC said many areas where rubbish is present cannot be cleared due to health and safety concerns.
In a letter to Grantham resident Bill Wilson, who complained about the levels of litter, an SKDC customer liaison officer said: “I know these roads have not been maintained from a littering perspective for several years because of the health and safety issues surrounding this type of work.
“We cannot find a solution that the council can provide at this time.”
It states that operatives cannot legally work within 1.2 metres of a high-speed road, even if there is a footpath there.
SKDC has also said that accessing roads over the 1.2 metre strip is a “problem” and they cannot access them without traffic management in place.
It suggests verges can be accessed via laybys but as the highway verge areas narrow down to 1.2 metre limit then “we cannot go any further along the road”.
Other obstacles include steep embankments, dykes, ditches, uneven surfaces, shrubs, litter under hedges and also litter hanging on trees and shrubs.
Previously, SKDC has said it will clean up parts of the A1 when maintenance work taking place results in road closures, if it is “safe to do so”.
This prompted the question over whether the local authority could litterpick during night-time drainage works which began on March 1 and will continue into August.
The works will see parts of the A1 closed between Colsterworth and Long Bennington.
But the council said it could not as the areas lit up are “not the areas that we require to be lit for our operations”, while obstacles such as broken glass and uneven land rule out council operatives working in head torches.
“Work will not be carried out this way on high-speed roads until we have found a way to mitigate the risks,” the letter concluded.
Mr Wilson, an avid litterpicker, said SKDC’s response is “unacceptable”.
He added: “If they want to attract people to the town this won’t help. The litter will worsen and we will have to see it get worse.”
Graham Matthews, another “dedicated litterpicker”, has spent over 30 hours this spring working on slip roads near the A1, and expects to spend another 30 more hours on it.
He finds it “soul destroying” that the litter problem is “never-ending”.
In recent weeks, the Journal has run several stories on the amounts of rubbish dumped along the A1 at Grantham.
Concerned residents have branded the state of lay-bys and verges as “disgusting” and said they want a “bit of pride for the area”.
The A1 as a road is the responsibility of National Highways, but it is local councils that bear the responsibility for clearing rubbish.
National Highways picks up litter on motorways only.
National Highways route manager Stephen Warren said: “We do work closely with councils to help their litter operatives best utilise any traffic management we have in place.
This allows them to safely go onto the road while vehicles are travelling at a reduced speed.
“ We do help local authorities access the network and send in our own teams to litter pick when the opportunity arises if we are working on the network.
“However, if people didn’t drop litter from their vehicles in the first place it wouldn’t need to be picked up.
“We urge people to think twice before tossing litter out of their car windows and take it home instead.”
The “frustration over roadside litter on the A1” is also understood by Grantham MP Gareth Davies, who said he has spoken with SKDC about the issue and also raised it in the House of Commons.
Mr Davies said: “I know that SKDC are working hard to find a solution to this problem, but safety constraints mean that council staff cannot litterpick while the entire road is operational and such major arterial roads are not often closed.
“I understand that SKDC plans to liaise with National Highways so that litter can be collected when road improvements are taking place, protecting council staff, cleaning our highways, and minimising the impact on road users.”
Neighbouring local authorities have the same problem in safely accessing the A1 roadside. Newark and Sherwood District Council covers the area north of South Kesteven and Rutland County Council the south.
Rutland County Council claims litter levels in Rutland are low, but it recognises the A1 as a “litter hotspot” and the fight to clean it will not be a “quick fix”.
Its contractor crews visit the A1 laybys once a week as a minimum to carry out litter picks and empty bins.
However, crews are unable to clean up litter between lay-bys unless there is “sufficient clearance from live traffic lanes” meaning it is “unable to send litter picking crews on to the A1 without a lane closure in place.
It said that litter-picking on high speed roads is not a “straightforward task and it does not expect their operatives to “put themselves in danger”, said a spokesperson for Rutland County Council.
It recognises litter on the A1 will remain a problem “as long as people continue to drop litter”.
A spokesperson added: “We are not alone with this problem and are aware that all the other local authorities along the entire stretch of the A1 face the same issues that we do.”
The council liaises with National Highways and its contractor Amey, a construction engineering company, to find a “solution” and “improve the general condition of the A1”.
It also liaises with neighbouring authorities to “share ideas and potential solutions”.
Newark and Sherwood District Council confirmed that because of increased traffic levels, it cannot use cleaning methods on the A1 that it previously used.
It also works with Amey to utilise road closures to “carry out the cleaning duties safely”.
