Gala packing up on Peckham Rye

[fishboy]

I went for a walk over the Gala site today, now that the hoardings & hazard tape has been removed. Really shocked & saddened to see not only the amount of damage to the grass, but more the quantity of small items of litter covering almost every square inch of the whole site. Hundreds, maybe thousands of fag butts, bottle tops, can ring pulls, cut off cable ties etc etc. I thought they were supposed to be leaving it as they found it, if not better? Does anyone know whether anyone from the council will be inspecting the site closely? It really needs a team of litter pickers to comb the area and pick up every bit. Go and have a look - you'll be appalled.

[elloriac]

We took our dog for a walk there today and the litter situation is much better than you describe. We didn't spot any of the things you mention, so I assume they have had a really good clean up. Obviously there's lots of damaged grass, but at least it's safe now.

[DuncanW]

They had people there on their hands on knees picking up very small bits of rubbish when I was there late yesterday afternoon.

[Cyclemonkey]

It makes sense that litter picking will be the very last job, no point it doing it before all the equipment is removed.

As for grass, it will recover, it's remarkably resilient stuff. The festival looked very well organised and I hope everyone who went had a good time.

[fishboy]

I agree grass will grow back, given time and left alone to recover - possibly not ideal conditions in a popular park in Summer, though. And I also hope everyone had a good time, just a shame they couldn't respect the park a little more.

I went over there an hour ago and there is still a terrible amount of litter. Not sure where you walked your dog elloriac, this was over near Colyton Road. Very sad of me, but I felt a video would show the evidence best, hopefully it's accessible (and excuse the huffing & puffing, I was crouching and walking!)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PS5PvqLiL2CYrZrd6

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

That's a horrendous amount of rubbish.

The cigarette butts aren't biodegradable (it's not all paper) let alone the ring pulls and cable ties.

[DuncanW]

That is quite a lot of litter... hopefully as they had folk out there yesterday afternoon picking up litter, that will continue until the site is clear.

It's a shame after picking up what looked like a 3" screw you just chucked it back on the floor again. Maybe you could have spent that two minutes more productively - although do appreciate your self-awareness

[elloriac]

Your evidence is very clear. Thanks. They were still packing up in the opposite corner, so hopefully they'll have more litter pickers out today.

[fishboy]

That?s a fair point, DuncanW, it did cross my mind but I wanted to leave the site intact in case anyone from the council or organisers did go over to have a look. The purpose of the video was to document the situation.

However I?ve just gone over there again and picked up the two screws in the video. I wonder how many more are lurking in the grass though??

Also it doesn?t look any different from earlier, so it would appear the organisers consider it complete.

[first mate]

Well, if someone gets injured by a three inch screw going through their foot...more likely to injure a dog though, we'll know who to sue!

[rachp]

Dogkennelhillbilly Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> That's a horrendous amount of rubbish.

>

> The cigarette butts aren't biodegradable (it's not

> all paper) let alone the ring pulls and cable

> ties.

So many smokers don?t seem to register their butts as being litter. We need this to be a national campaign, not just Bristol:

[d walker]

I was over there this evening and yes Fishboy, what you filmed is exactly what I saw, cable ties a plenty, cigarette butts, ring pulls etc.

The grass will grow back but the ridges and holes from the trucks/equipment will remain. They weren't repaired from last year and now made even worse!

[first mate]

Has anyone sent this video to the relevant councillors? It is just not acceptable to leave sections of a public park in that condition. The organiser's clean-up has clearly not been thorough enough.

[fishboy]

I emailed Renata Hamvas and Vicki Mills (Peckham Rye ward councillors) yesterday and sent a link to the video. She replied to say:

"Thanks for bringing it to my attention, I have contacted officers and have asked that the liaise with We Are The Fair to get this resolved."

But I'm surprised no one from the council appears to have checked the site to see if it is safe and suitable to be reopened to the public before the contractors left, especially before a sunny weekend.

[first mate]

I'm not, out of sight is out of mind. Bottom line, they need a team of litter pickers to go over the whole site, inch by inch, and remove cigarette butts, cable ties, other plastics and ring pulls and screws. The former are toxic and damaging to the environment, the latter could injure a human or animal. The cost for the extensive clear-up should be met in full by the organisers. The Council must ensure the site is left as it was found or their so called green credentials are shot.

[George Orwell]

There are plenty of moans here about the mess and the apparently inadequate remedial measures being taken by the organisers and the council.

Just think - who caused the litter ? I always take my litter home - maybe I?m just the odd responsible one.

[Nigello]

Why not @ the organisers on Twitter etc. with your film and a link to this thread?

[first mate]

George Orwell, as I understand it, part of the agreement was/is that the park is pretty much left as found (excepting yellow grass which we all agree will recover. Bottom line, this part of the agreement has not yet been met and that is unacceptable.

We all know who has made the mess, they are customers of 'We are the Fair'. In a way that is immaterial. WATF have hired the 'venue' for a private event from which no doubt they have made a handsome profit. The deal was to clear up afterwards, which they have not done. Aside from that, this company has also made a big deal about their green credentials and 'care' for the community, so they should junk the greenwashing rhetoric and prove that with their actions.

Shame on anyone who attended and dumped their junk, including ring pulls and ciggie butts...no excuse.

[Penguin68]

Shame on anyone who attended and dumped their junk, including ring pulls and ciggie butts...no excuse.

Actually, in a crowd, extinguishing and then pocketing a cigarette butt is easier said than done - the organisers should provide sufficient waste bins for people to dispose of their debris 'locally'. And safely. And (if they didn't) employ loads of litter pickers at the event - not just to pick-up litter but to act as a visual reminder to 'guests' that they need to police their own litter. As it gets dark finding and disposing of debris becomes more difficult - and half the crowd, in my experience, won't have any pockets to take away litter even if they wanted to.

[Waseley]

Is this any different to people dropping their McDs carton in the street? A shame that we all don't take more personal responsibility but hardly isolated to the Gala. I'd love McDs to be responsible to ensure that punters dispose of their waste, and Walkers for their crisp packets etc etc....

[first mate]

You are fudging things Wase. Again, part of the Rye was hired out under contract for a private event. Part of the contract was to leave the Rye as found...that was not done.

[rachp]

Waseley Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Is this any different to people dropping their

> McDs carton in the street? A shame that we all

> don't take more personal responsibility but hardly

> isolated to the Gala. I'd love McDs to be

> responsible to ensure that punters dispose of

> their waste, and Walkers for their crisp packets

> etc etc....

I think the authorities would love to be able to pass the costs of litter onto the source businesses but this is obviously a lot more complex to do in most cases- whereas it?s pretty straightforward to ask that a contained, green site is restored to its original state after a single event. The Welsh government is in fact looking to pass costs on more widely: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-60968570

Just because it?s harder to do this for the likes of McDonalds, should we level down our expectations on events like Gala? Litter costs tax payers and the environment hugely- why should all these costs be met by the public purse and volunteers who give up their time to clean up after other people who can?t be bothered to clean up after themselves?

[Nigello]

I agree - leave the site as it was found and, if it?s in the contract to do so, fine if not. I regularly pick up at least eight items of litter (most of it bottles and cans), which means at least seven people simply CBA to find a bin (the remaining piece having fallen out of a bin on collection day, etc.) The council can?t legislate for uncivilised lowlife but they can demand action from private firms with whom they have business contracts.

[DuncanW]

Absolutely agree - the site should be left as found - certainly in terms of litter.

My understanding is that this is written into their contract and enforceable, so would expect that to happen as it has in previous years.

[Waseley]

My point was whether you can make businesses responsible for the litter, as opposed to punters. I'm sure there is some part of the world where this is common. However that could absolve individuals of their responsibility. Nigello I generally find you posts informative but it does annoy me when people use sweeping judgemental statements - 'low life scum'. This could be seen to apply to a large section of society...