The Environment

fig. 4 - The importance of local
environmental issues

The questions we asked under this section covered several areas. Firstly we asked about the relative importance of several different things that directly impact on the public areas of the village, such as litter bins and the mowing of the verges. The results are shown in fig. 4.

Clearly the issues considered the most important are the amount of litter on the verges, the fact that the verges should be cut more frequently and the desire for an increased number of litter and dog bins around the village.

On the matter of recycling, a large proportion (almost 80%) of the village already use the doorstep recycling boxes provided by Fenland District Council. There are a few who would like to but don’t have the opportunity. By looking at the results from different areas of the village, it appears that it is the northern side of the parish – particularly the farms and houses away from the village centre, that do not have access to doorstep recycling.

In addition to the current recycling services offered by the council, there was significant support for either additional household bins or a more frequent collection of recyclable waste than the current fortnightly pick-up.

The Green - in need of more litter bins?

Besides doorstep recycling, the village also has a glass recycling bin on The Green. However, 40% of the village don’t use it and the primary reason given for its lack of use was that it is always full. This can be addressed in two ways: having the bin emptied more frequently, and stopping local businesses from using it to recycle their glass. Since it only has the capacity for domestic glass and not trade glass, it is frequently unusable by the community and glass is dumped by the side of it in bags – a hazard to the children that play on the green.

There was also support for additional public recycling bins – paper, cardboard, cans, clothes, etc – but the issue of where to site these would need to be resolved. The green is a conservation area, so it is unlikely they could be sited next to the current glass bin.

We also asked about the recycling of garden waste. Just over half of the village (53%) would be interested in using a home composter if they were available, and some already do. However, there was very little interest in helping to run a community composting scheme.

Continued...