LITTER-BUSTING bosses could scoop five major environmental awards - only days after the BEN highlighted the town's grot spots! Bolton Council have been nominated in the Tidy Britain Group's People and Places Awards, which recognise groups who have made significant improvements to their local area. The town is up for first place in Best Community Awareness, Best Community Involvement, Best Management of Litter and Waste and Programme of the Year.
Trevor Leese, co-ordinator for Bolton's anti-litter scheme People and Places has also made it to the last three nominees in the Manager of the Year award.
But news of the nominations comes only a week after we highlighted Bolton's litter problem and just four years after the Tidy Britain Group branded the town a 'grot spot'.
Photographs showed litter strewn across roads and pavements in Kearsley, Tonge, Deane and Halliwell.
Mr Leese, environmental protection officer with Bolton Council, has strived to battle the problem with a series of anti-litter campaigns.
He said: "I believe the Tidy Britain Group recognises we have involved the community whenever possible to address this serious issue.
"They have looked at what we're doing and compared it with other local authorities and their view is that we're running successful programmes.
"In 1995 the Tidy Britain Group completed a survey of Bolton which showed that, quite frankly, we had a poor record against other boroughs. But they're about to publish their new survey and I'm sure it will reflect a considerable improvement.
"Should we win any awards it will not be just for the council but for all those in the community who have helped so much in recent years."
The town's anti-litter campaign is now looked on as a flagship scheme by many authorities, with council officers being invited to speak at national environmental conferences.
The winners will be announced at the People and Places Conference Awards Dinner at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate, on March 2.
The presentations will be made by BBC television presenter John Craven.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article