Milkstone businesses clean up their act

Clean up opposite Rochdale Central Mosque

A community clean up involving local residents, businesses and pupils from St John’s Primary School took place at a  notorious dumping ground opposite Rochdale Central Mosque in Milkstone, as part of the Tidy Business Standards initiative.

The Tidy Business Standards scheme aims to improve the visual appearance of Rochdale by signing businesses up to a  litter  and waste charter and providing a bespoke action plan outlining a range of measures that can be taken to  reduce their environmental footprint. There is also an emphasis on supporting community efforts to enhance the local area.

The clean up, supported by Groundwork Oldham amp; Rochdale, Rochdale MBC and SRB5 (Revitalizing Inner Rochdale), was an  opportunity for local businesses to engage with the community and work in partnership to tackle the problem of litter and waste in the area.

Julia Dickinson, Environmental Business Advisor for Groundwork said she was delighted with the efforts of everyone: “Filling two skips and two council vehicles with rubbish in less than two hours is an enormous achievement. Residents, businesses and children from St John’s RC Primary School have made the area cleaner, safer and tidier. This empowerment of the local community is more likely to provide sustainable maintenance of the site.”

Local businessman, Hassan Ansari of Pro Active Legal explained their participation in the clean up: “Litter makes the area unattractive and undesirable. We want our customers to feel welcome in our neighbourhood. That is why we are backing the Tidy Business Standards scheme and taking the opportunity to work with the community. Litter is everyone’s responsibility - the council, the public and businesses – and if we all work together we can all benefit from a litter free environment.”

The head teacher of St John’s Primary School, said: “Clean ups are a great way of encouraging everyone to think about and actually put their rubbish  in  bins  rather  than  on the floor and be more considerate about their environment. It’s been a great starting point but it is important that the whole community builds on this success and everyone makes a conscious effort to keep the area clean otherwise we will be back at square one again.”