Fly tipping and littering are problems for communities across Nottingham, but people in Sneinton are taking the state of the area into their own hands. Jake George reports.
What started out as just a couple people litter picking around the end of their street in Sneinton has quickly turned into an army of up to 42 people who patrol the streets making sure it’s clean.
A resident of the area, dismayed at the amount of rubbish in Sneinton, took to social media to find likeminded people who wanted to make a change.
Now there is a network of different groups in the area which have come together to achieve the goal of making Sneinton a better place to live.
One of these is the Sneinton Waste Action Group (SWAG) which formed around a year ago and has 42 regular members who come out and litter pick monthly.
It started on Facebook when Sarah-Marie Taylor, 36, posted she was shocked at the amount of rubbish nearby and asked for help.
She said: “SWAG started as a response to litter and fly tipping in the area.
“When I moved to Sneinton I was horrified by the state of the area.
“I’ve been surprised by the response but its nice to see local residents getting together and taking pride in where they live.”
She thinks that the proximity that people live in Sneinton, as the area is densely populated with small streets and close terrace houses, make the community feel closer.
Ms Taylor added:” I moved here from Bakersfield last year, which is only down the road, but it doesn’t have the same feeling of community as Sneinton.”
Between 2023-2024 there were 30511 instances of fly tipping across the whole of Nottingham, with only 12052 of those instances having some form of action taken against them.
David Mellen, the ex-leader of Nottingham City Council and Labour councillor for the Dales ward, has frequently attended SWAG litter picks for the last six months.
He has lived in the Sneinton for 36 years and has been a champion for the area as a councillor for the last 12 years.
He said: “There has been no sense of ownership in the area.
“There are loads of reasons for the littering, whether that’s irresponsible landlords, lack of education or laziness, but I’m not prepared to let those who are doing this win.
“People think, oh its only Sneinton, I’ll chuck it out the car window.
“However, there is now a good sprit in Sneinton and it’s my responsibility as a councillor to encourage this and empower my community.”
Cllr Mellen also believes that people do not recycle enough and the amount of takeaways in the area plays a part in the amount of rubbish on the streets.
SWAG are not the only group taking action as many in the area are deciding it’s time to make a change.
GrowNotts is a community interest company that recently started the campaign “Wild About Sneinton”, where residents are encouraged to get out and plant, water and maintain parts of the area.
Jack Harris, 31, is the founder of GrowNotts and lives Sneinton.
Before starting GrowNotts, he worked as an organic farmer in more rural areas, but wanted to do more in the area he lived so started urban greening and gardening.
He said: “We want to create a greener, more vibrant, more ecological Sneinton.”
“We want to create pathways and opportunities for people to do it for themselves.
“Opportunity is more important than outcome.”
An event in April saw more than 150 people turn up to clean and plant across multiple different spots across Sneinton, including creating a small biodiversity garden near The King Billy’s pub.
They had a hub with bands playing and refreshments served through out the day and plan to do the same in October, planting bulbs for the colder months.
Mr Harris added: “The atmosphere was great, people were buzzing and I think people were just happy to see something positive happening in a public space in an area like Sneinton.”
They are also trying to get a grant from the council for a community officer.
There are many plans for both groups in coming months including making sure July’s Sneinton Festival remains tidy and putting on planting workshops on the day.
After being offered a trailer by a resident in the area, SWAG also plans to renovate this, put equipment for litter picking or gardening in it and use it as an educational tool for the community and local schools.
They also received a grant of £500 from the Renewal Trust so they can take more action.
With this money SWAG, alongside its partners including GrowNotts, enva and Sowing Sneinton, have organised a free waste disposal day Lindum Grove community garden on Saturday, May 24.
It will be the first event of its kind organised by the group, which hopes for similar events in future.
You can find out more about what both groups are getting up to by checking them out on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/sneinton.swag/ and https://www.instagram.com/grownotts/
