Rusty bikes, fast food packaging, bottles and cans were among the detritus cleared away (photo: Richard Street).

More than 50 lend a hand in Speckled Wood spring clean

There was a good turnout of folk to help clear rubbish from Speckled Wood in Ore last Saturday morning as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean. Ore Community Land Trust, which owns part of the wood and is seeking to buy the remainder, reports.

More than 50 people turned up last Saturday morning to lend a hand with clearing rubbish from Speckled Wood in Ore, including 15 cubs and scouts from the 4^th Hastings group based in Ore, together with their parents, and more than 40 local residents with their children and dogs.

They were among the more than half a million across the country who participated in the Great British Spring Clean organised by Keep Britain Tidy.

Between them they filled a skip (generously loaned by French’s Skips) with everything from rusty bikes, fast food packaging, bottles, cans, bags of clothes and much more, all of which had been dumped in this local “green lung”.

“How can people behave like this?” was a common comment as the detritus was collected. “Why can’t they just put their rubbish in bins or take it to the tip like the rest of us?”

Community comes together

“I was delighted to see so many people turn out to volunteer for this Great British Spring Clean in Speckled Wood today,” said Jim Breeds, Ore CLT chair. “This was a remarkable demonstration of the community coming together to tackle a terrible litter problem in our Wood.

“It was particularly pleasing to see so many young people taking part, including a large and enthusiastic contingent from the Ore 4th Hastings Scouts and Cubs. Everybody’s hard work today has now made the wood a more pleasant place to visit, and I look forward to many more opportunities for the Trust and the local community to work together on turning Speckled Wood into a more fantastic environment than it already is.”

Ore CLT successfully campaigned for the area to be removed from the Council’s housing allocation sites and last year acquired part of the wood from the Council. We are seeking to buy those areas still in private ownership so that it can be preserved as community green space in perpetuity.

We would also welcome more volunteers to help in the maintenance and management of the wood. See here if you’re interested.

Photo: Tony Polain

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