Fly Tipping and Littering; The Wrekin
Fly Tipping and Littering
In addition to the perennial problem of litter thrown into our countryside from passing cars, and left at roadside pull-ins and field entrances, there has been a steady increase in the amount of commercial and domestic fly-tipping throughout the parish in recent years.
Sacks of domestic refuse, electrical appliances, demolition materials, hedge trimmings and other garden rubbish all too frequently seem to be dumped by the side of the road rather than taken to the local public amenity sites.
The only way this can be combated is by vigilance on behalf of everyone in the parish.
Fly-tipping remains a problem and may increase from 2008 onwards now that T&W charge to collect large items. Should you see anyone fly-tipping take the vehicle number if it is safe to so and report it to T&W on 384384. Do not confront the persons tipping the rubbish. Information can also be reported to the Parish Clerk on 505734.
Alternatively, heaps of rubbish on public land anywhere in the parish should be reported straight away to the Borough Council for collection and proper disposal to a strict service standard.
Contact Telford & Wrekin Environmental Maintenance 01952 384384.
In co-operation with Shropshire Wildlife volunteers the Wombles spring cleaned Wellington Road woodland area and the Wrekin during March 2009. Many thanks to Veolia for collecting all the rubbish
Litter Picking
Telford & Wrekin Council also litter-pick around the parish once a month. To supplement this, a number of local parishioners have kindly agreed to pick along sections of the roadways on a regular basis, more often than not tied-in to walking their dogs.
Litter pickers in the parish have affiliated to the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign who asked the group for a name which is now "Little Wenlock Wombles". On 12th September 2008 we joined forces with Shropshire Wildlife Trust volunteers to tidy up The Wrekin. Fifteen of the volunteers removed twenty five large bags of rubbish plus an assortment of extra large articles. Each Womble has assumed responsibility for a particular stretch of road or path and will continue to litter pick as and when necessary.
If you can spare a little time now and again to join us please:
Contact Pat Hutchings 01952 505683
Dog Fouling
In 2007, following complaints about dog fouling in the parish, the Parish Council ran a successful campaign to eliminate the problem. It also paid to have new dual purpose litter bins located within the parish. During 2009, regrettably the problem has returned at two specific locations: Buildwas Lane and in the area around the bench located at the junction of Spout Lane and Wellington Road. This bench is used daily by walkers and cyclists. The Parish Council would respectfully ask those whose dogs are fouling these areas to clear up after them so that the areas are fit for people to use. Thank you.
The Wrekin
Little Wenlock Parish Council remains at the forefront of local efforts to improve access to The Wrekin, having been campaigning for many years to improve off-road parking at the Forest Glen; re-open the toilets and tackle littering, vandalism and car crime.
The Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s acquisition of the Forest Glen area in 2005 has provided a valuable shot-in-the-arm for these efforts.
Wrekin Forest Project Officer, Pete Lambert, charged with developing the conservation management plan for The Wrekin under the Wildlife Trust’s two year Heritage Lottery Fund project, is really getting to work.
He’s spent a large amount of time gathering information and views on The Wrekin from everyone and anyone over the past few months and is now rolling out a programme of practical conservation activities to get people involved in an innovative plan development scheme.
Subsequently Pete Lambert stated that he wished to consult widely with regard to the various options proposed, and as part of that process posted the following statement on the Little Wenlock Website "Blog".
"As I am sure you now know Shropshire Wildlife Trust have been funded by Telford and Wrekin Council to support a further feasibility study into the virtues or otherwise of a visitor centre for the Wrekin Forest. The Wrekin Forest is a last remnant of a Norman hunting Forest. The Wrekin Forest includes not only the Hill but the open countryside which frames it. This area is the northern most part of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Beauty, is much visited and much loved. Increasing numbers of visitors arrive daily to utilize the rich woodlands and pathways for various forms of outdoor recreation. In the past at the base of The Wrekin stood the Forest Glen Pavillion, providing food and entertainment. The Forest Glen was dismantled by 1980 and moved to Blist Hill. A toilet block was opened but has since been closed for a number of years. A widely consulted upon Landscape Conservation Plan was produced at the end of 2007. Out of the many proposed biodiversity initiatives a number of People focused areas were also included, one of these was an attempt to resolve the outstanding issue of road safety at the Forest Glen Junction and the development and maintenance of appropriate visitor facilities.
A part of the Telford and Wrekin Council funding, £17,497, is to be used to launch a specific public consultation in relation to a Wrekin Forest Visitor Centre. Specifically to look very closely at the following options
- Do Nothing
- Demolish old toilet block
- Re-open old toilet block
- Build new structure on site of old toilet block
- Build new structure on foundations of Forest Glen pavilion
- Create overflow car parking with new woodland planting in Donkey Field to mitigate car parking problems caused by existing arrangement.
- Build new structure, car parking and new woodland planting in Donkey Field
- Or ?
The favoured option does have to address the following conditions
- It does not compromise special character of the Wrekin Forest
- Car parking/ road safety issues are resolved by the development
- The development has to be able to generate it’s own revenue to make it a sustainable long term solution to the provision of high quality facilities for the regular visitor and the country lover from afar.
If we don’t do ‘nothing’, then how will a new/reopened visitor facility run
- Community partnership
- Local authority
- Commercial operator
- Charitable Heritage Trust
- Or ?
To help the debate we welcome written thoughts, comments and proposals to the address below, or leave your comments here on the Little Wenlock blog at http://www.littlewenlock.org/blog.
Whether to have or not have a visitor centre for the Wrekin Forest is an immensely complex thing, we do hope you will join the debate. Shortly we will be commissioning a set of illustrations to help move the debate further and let you know when and where these drop in sessions will take place.
I look forward to hearing from you, regards, Pete."
Pete Lambert, Wrekin Forest Officer /Telford Green Network Officer,
Shropshire Wildlife Trust
Tel 01743 284285, Fax 01743 284281 PeteL@shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk
Wrekin Forest Draft Plan - comments most welcome.
Wrekin Visitor Survey (Word document)
Archaeological Study (pdf)
Latest information on The Wrekin can be obtained from:
Update June 2009 The Wrekin Forest Partnership is grateful to Telford and Wrekin Council and Shropshire Hills AONB for recent funding support. The Wrekin Forest Feasibility study has received approval from key landowners. The Partnership agreed that a purpose built visitor centre would be uneconomic and inappropriate and welcomed traffic calming measures.
The Partnership favours a Walkers’ café development at the Buckatree Hotel, a proposed new website for the Partnership and a bid to fund a 12 month deer issues field worker. However, the study contains some controversial recommendations such as demolition or refurbishment of the toilet block and new car parking facilities. Both issues are being pursued further.
At the base of the Wrekin wall repairs, safety tree work, car park repairs and new signage are in place. New footpaths and a footbridge in Ercall woods are completed. All thanks to Natural England funding.
From June 2009 Phil Holden, Manager of Shropshire Hills AONB, is the new Chairman of The Wrekin Forest Partnership, and Michael Mander DL is the President.
Raby Estate has joined us in a joint project to restore the hill fort, a scheduled ancient monument. Vegetation and erosion surveys were undertaken earlier in the year. There are four entrances and double ramparts which have been eroded by people's feet, bikes, horses and casual vehicles. The focus is on the entrances. Timber has been placed to ease pressure on Hell's Gate and this will remain in place until the early winter. Using grass, heather and bilberry seeds harvested from the Stiperstones seeding will take place in August. Raby Estate is removing saplings from within the hill fort area but trees on the ramparts will be left as their roots bind the soil and protect from erosion. There will be no new planting of trees on the ramparts. June 10th 2009 is the date for bracken bashing when Lawley Primary School will join the volunteers. Three more school visits are to follow involving stories and Iron Age enactments.
