A council funded, community clean-up project has been scuppered by another section of the same council.
Over the last three years pupils from Rushden Community College have been involved in 20 major clear-up projects and have maintained gardens at 120 homes around Rushden, Higham Ferrers, Irthlingborough and Raunds as part of the Whitefriars Church Groundbreakers project.
Recently however, the volunteer teenagers, who have cleaned up gardens for vulnerable people, have been banned from disposing of their rubbish at Northamptonshire County Council's tip in Northampton Road, Rushden. They don't have the correct paperwork to use the council waste facility and on some occasions they have even been forced to return the waste to the original gardens.
Groundbreakers’ project worker Rosie Cheetham said,
"We've been told we can only dump the waste in Wellingborough and Northampton. This isn't viable because we only have an hour at a time with the students and if we had to travel to Wellingborough or Northampton that would take up all the time. The county council funds our project, and yet another part of the authority is blocking its work – we just hope common sense prevails."
One 16-year-old volunteer said,
“We get told off for riding our BMX bikes in the town. Now we get told off just for helping people. Why should we bother?"
Among those who have benefited from the project are tenants from the Rockingham Forest Housing Association. Association chief executive Rosemarie Anderson said,
"They've helped residents including people with disabilities, single mums with young children and elderly couples. The work they've done has been fantastic. We hope this issue can be resolved."
A County Council spokesperson said,
"Reverend Evans at Whitefriars Church was advised in March, prior to the work being carried out, that a charity permit was required to dispose of waste at specific sites in the county – one a landfill site in Wellingborough one a waste transfer station in Northampton. When charity workers arrived at the Rushden Household Waste Recycling Centre they did not have the required permit and were again advised of the need for a permit. Permits cost 25p each and would have been issued in this circumstance so the waste could have been taken to the landfill sites which are set up to take such rubbish."
