I have emailed the council today voicing my personal concerns about the area regarding littering and the need for bins and some form of service and enforcement in the area with regards to littering. If you have the time it would be appreciated if you could also send a personal email to those concerned at the council. Please feel free to take any photos and send those, there are plenty on the NorthWest Voluntary bailiff group page that you are more than welcome to use for the purpose. https://www.facebook.com/NorthWestVBG/

Here are the email contact details for the local councillors for the area of Fishwick and Ribbleton, Preston Mayor and the Head of Neighbourhood Services within the Preston City Council.

cllr.a.hindle@preston.gov.uk
cllr.j.saksena@preston.gov.uk
cllr.m.rawlinson@preston.gov.uk
cllr.p.crowe@preston.gov.uk
cllr.p.varty@preston.gov.uk
cllr.v.wise@preston.gov.uk
cllr.y.patel@preston.gov.uk
m.a.taylor@preston.gov.uk

This is the content of my letter please feel free to copy and paste bits of it as needed;

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am the Area Co-Ordinator for the Angling Trust’s Voluntary Bailiff Service which also supports the Anglers Against Litter Campaign. I am also a volunteer Preston City Council Litter Picker.

Over the past 3 years the Angling Trust Volunteers, in partnership with groups such as the Environment Agency, Lancashire Police, Ribble Rivers Trust and Ribble Fisheries Consultative Association, have conducted days of action litter picking along various stretches of the River Ribble – most recently 22nd July 2024.

On average we have removed 50 bags of rubbish from each of these days. These activities have been published on various social media and local media platforms.

The most prevalent location for littering is the Guild Wheel Pathway particularly from the Tickled Trout to the Old Shaws Arms Public House. The railings along the “pipeline” section and picnic benches have also been vandalised which pose a significant Health and Safety risk. There is also a large amount of visible dog excrement both collected in bags and dumped or just left. Again, an obvious H+S issue – not only to people but also to the wider environment and wildlife.

The area is also highly prevalent for invasive plant species – such as Himalayan Balsam and Giant Hogweed – which as I am sure you are aware is toxic to humans and can cause painful burn like injuries which can last for years.

There are 5 miles of Guild Wheel pathway between the Shaws Arms and The Crematorium without a single rubbish bin. There used to be a rubbish bin under the Tickled Trout but this has been removed.

The area desperately needs more bins and the service to empty those bins. We also need more official permanent signage (also in multi-lingual form) advising against littering and the threat of possible fines for doing so. There also needs to be more active patrolling from officials enforcing the laws around littering. There is currently an online petition running collecting support and signatures calling for Preston City Council to provide more bins and regular servicing of those bins.