By Danielle Kutchel
A community-minded couple is urging residents to pick up their rubbish to keep Berwick beautiful.
Hans and Ellie, long-time Berwick residents, are regular walkers around the Berwick High Street area, and are disappointed by the amount of rubbish they see while they’re out and about.
They’re particularly concerned about the area around Berwick Marketplace and Adams Lane, where they say clumps of discarded waste of all sorts pop up regularly.
And while they do their bit and pick up any litter that they see, they’ve questioned whether there are enough bins around the Berwick shopping precinct.
The couple have asked other walkers to do as they do, and pick up the rubbish they see.
Hans and Ellie said they’ve also enquired with Casey Council as to the possibility of installing bins in Adams Lane.
The pair says Berwick would “be more pleasant” if there was no rubbish around.
They believe residents and visitors to Berwick need to get into the mindset of disposing of rubbish properly.
“Have a bit of pride,” Hans said.
“We love our village, and we’re willing to do something to keep it clean.”
The City of Casey’s manager of sustainability and waste, Michael Jansen, said the council was committed to keeping Casey’s public spaces clean.
He said waste contractors undertake street cleaning every six weeks and empty bins daily so they don’t overflow.
According to Mr Jansen, there are 21 public bins on council land around the Berwick Village Shopping Centre, which takes in both sides of the High Street.
Hans and Ellie suggested that having separate recycling and general waste bins might encourage people to dispose of rubbish correctly, however Mr Jansen said that might not necessarily be the case.
“While we provide recycling bins in some council owned spaces, such as sporting facilities, we have found that recycling bins in unsupervised settings such as shopping strips or parks have a high contamination rate,” he explained.
“Many waste items get thrown in with recyclables resulting in the entire load being unrecyclable,” he said, adding that installing recycling bins in these areas would not be “feasible”.
“Rubbish dumping and littering is illegal, and residents and business owners are encouraged to report issues with dumped rubbish or litter through our online litter report form or by calling Council’s Customer Service, so we can investigate and respond quickly,” he added.
