During a debate in parliament this week, Jack Brereton MP has raised the scourge of litter on the A50 and A500 in Stoke-on-Trent. Unwilling to take any prisoners on the issue, Jack Brereton MP has called on National Highways to work more closely to clean up Britain’s roads.
Jack Brereton MP was keen to raise with MPs and ministers, issues of litter on Britain’s highways, especially in Stoke-on-Trent. Speaking in the Westminster Hall debate on litter, Jack voiced his concern over dangerous amounts of litter and anti-social behaviour being a contributing factor due to lack of action by National Highways.
A proud lifelong resident of Stoke-on-Trent, Jack shared with Minister for Transport, Richard Holden MP, feedback given by one resident on the unwelcoming image that litter has had on Stoke-on-Trent.
Jack Brereton MP said:
"Many of my constituents in Stoke-on-Trent South frequently raise concerns with me about the disgraceful levels of litter and the bad impression that people get when visiting or travelling through our area on the strategic road network. One of my constituents said to me recently when I was out in the community that one of their relatives had visited from overseas and was completely shocked to see the standard of our highways and the scale of litter accumulating at the side of the road.”
Jack has raised the issue of maintenance on local roads, such as the A50 and A500 repeatedly with National Highways. They currently only conduct annual cutting of grass verges, as pointed out by Jack, Stoke-on-Trent City Council has had to step in on cutting verges to help improve the appearance of green space in Longton and Meir.
Jack also raised concerns of anti-social behaviour and drug abuse contributing to litter. Raising concerns of health and safety for operatives challenged with cleaning litter, Jack pointed out that objects such as syringes and various drug paraphernalia are posing ongoing risks to workers and members of the public.
During the debate, Jack was keen to thank local volunteers and Council workers in Stoke-on-Trent for their ongoing work in trying to tackle litter on local highways. National Highways has started to form litter partnerships with local authorities in a recent positive step to get the highways clean.
Jack Brereton MP closed his speech by saying:
“I hope these partnerships, alongside other measures being undertaken by National Highways, result in a step change in the standards we need to see and in dramatic improvements, which have to happen, on what we have experienced previously.”
“It is vitally important for people in Stoke-on-Trent, those visiting and the wider environment that we have an effective approach to maintenance and litter control on the strategic network.”
Transport Minister, Richard Holden MP, was keen to outline the Government’s work on improving Britain’s highways and the work being done with National Highways to clean up roads.
In response, the Minister said:
“The Government’s vision is of a road network free of litter. We believe that there is a lot more that we can do to keep the strategic road network, which includes England’s motorways, clear of litter. Litter is not only an eyesore, as hon. Members on both sides have mentioned, but environmentally damaging in numerous ways. It can risk the lives of the people who need to collect it as well as those of people on the road network itself.”
“I had a meeting with the chief executive of National Highways today and raised the issue of littering. In fairness to my officials, I have meetings every couple of weeks with the National Highways chief exec, and this was one issue that was raised today.”
“In recent years, the Government have bolstered local authority enforcement powers by raising the upper limit on fixed penalty notices for littering and by introducing powers to issue the keeper of a vehicle from which litter is thrown with a civil penalty. As I said, I recently spoke to National Highways and visited its site at South Mimms, where I saw some of the cameras in action. National Highways passes on evidence of the most egregious cases of littering and fly-tipping, but more could be done to co-ordinate its work with local authorities.”
“We will continue to work hard to support the Government’s wider ambitions around litter. We are confident that National Highways shares that ambition. As we move forward, it is important to continue to improve how we can hold it accountable for preventing and tackling litter on England’s strategic road network.”
Jack Brereton MP has stated that he will continue to work with Government Minister, National Highways, and Stoke-on-Trent City Council to ensure that both national and local efforts to tackle highways litter are effective. Jack has also made a plea to motorists to respect highways and consider the damage caused by litter from road users.
