A litter pick will start on the A380 ring road on Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 15 March. There are ongoing issues with littering at the site and Torbay Council regularly receives complaints about the issue.
SWISCo, a Torbay Council owned company, manages litter clearance across all of Torbay – including highway verges – within the resources available, and it is essential that SWISCo can ensure that it is done safely.
There are additional guidelines and procedures required to work on a highway such as the A380, and as this is a high-speed road, additional planning, permissions and safety measures are needed. Part of the A380 is within Devon County Council’s ownership and SWISCo are working closely with Milestone Devon’s highways conractor to complete a litter collection and sign cleaning on all areas from Paignton to Torquay.
Due to the dangers of litter picking on a busy road it is not possible to clear these verges at short notice. Torbay Council also want to reiterate that it is never acceptable in any circumstances to drop litter at the side of the road or anywhere else – so if you are out driving in your car, please take litter home with you and dispose of it there.
At present, SWISCo aim to carry out two mobile lane closures twice a year to undertake a series of tasks, including vegetation cutting, litter picking and inspections of the Highway.
Devon County Council’s contractor (Milestone) cuts the grass on the ring road twice a year in line with their A road programme, they link in with the programme of works from Newton Abbott (Penn Inn) to Marldon. The works are done between April / May for the first cut, and September/October for the second cut.
A spokesperson for Torbay Council said: “As we are improving on years of poor maintenance where we are exposing more areas that become visible of litter, we are gradually collecting the littering and fly tipped areas.”
Steve Darling, Leader of Torbay Council, said: “We are pleased to be able to announce that the litter pick on the A380 starts next week, however we must reiterate that it’s up to all of us to make sure we look after our beautiful Bay and don’t litter.
“It is never acceptable to drop litter and the mindless act of tossing plastic bottles and fast-food wrappers out of car windows is doing damage to our environment and our wildlife.
“National research by Keep Britain Tidy shows that millions of small mammals such as voles and shrews are dying after being enticed into bottles and cans thrown on grass verges.”
Councillor Mike Morey, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Environment and Culture for Torbay Council, said: “Torbay Council, including SWISCo, and organizations like the Clean Devon partnership, are working together across Devon to re-educate people to stop dropping litter and to take it home and dispose of it in a responsible manner.
“We will also be supporting the national Great British Spring Clean once again this year working with local volunteers on beach cleans and litter picks so we will be sharing those details once the events are confirmed.
“The message we need to get across to everyone though is don’t be a tosser – regardless of who throws the rubbish, if it comes from your vehicle, you are responsible.”
You can find out more about Clean Devon on the website here: https://cleandevon.org/
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