March Editorial

Ray goes from writing rubbish to writing about rubbish! Help needed to clean up the local area.

Hello again,

I know that many of our readers think that most of my editorials are rubbish, so this month that will be my theme. Rubbish! Pure, unadulterated rubbish or litter if you prefer.

Everyday when we take our three small Yorkies for a walk on Stoke Ferry common we seem confronted with yet another array of waste paper, cans, bottles, plastic bags and food wrappers. I did try to count the number of beer and soft drink cans thrown into the bushes but after a couple of hundred I gave up. How can people despoil such a lovely area which offers such delight to local residents and their children in particular?

But it is not just The Common. Stoke Ferry streets, outside Gerald's patrol area, are littered with chocolate bar wrappers, plastic bottles, cans, cigarette packets and food containers; and all within a few yards of a waste bin. Why will people, old and young alike, not take their rubbish home or at least dispose of it with some thought for others?

On Monday, Maureen and I visited King's Lynn where we parked in the new multi-storey car park. As we walked towards the new and greatly improved Vancouver Centre we found ourselves behind two ladies; I would guess mother and daughter. Both lit up cigarettes and the elder of the two simply tossed the empty cigarette packet into the cinema doorway. A few moments later, we were behind another 30 something lady who had purchased some food from The Bakers Oven. When the food was consumed she simply scrunched the paper bag into a ball and tossed it over her shoulder! Who, I wonder, do they think has the responsibility for cleaning up this rubbish? Not them, that's for sure.

You can't escape the rubbish on the roads, either. Many a time when following a lorry, van or car, the window is opened and empty coke cans, cigarette packets and other unwanted wrappers are simply tossed out into the road.

Some councils use Mrs Baggit (see right). Perhaps we should do the same in West Norfolk, or at least, on Stoke Ferry Common? Come on SF Parish Council; dig out your paint brushes and make a Mrs Baggit sign!

Ray Thompson