HUNDREDS of rubbish bags were collected by volunteers on approaches to Sherdley Park after Reminisce festival on Saturday, with the area described as “absolutely horrendous” by litter pickers.
Reminisce has come under mounting criticism after it hosted the nostalgic music and dance festival at Sherdley Park on Saturday, September 11.
With an increased capacity of 20,000 people, there have been complaints over the size of the queues inside and outside the festival, the inability to use card payments and the amount of litter left behind after the event.
Ian, from St Helens Litter Heroes group, said it is “entirely expected” that litter will be left behind at music festivals, but was shocked by the sheer volume of rubbish outside the festival gates near Marshalls Cross Road, with nothing in place to alleviate it.
Ian said: “Utter devastation is the only way I can describe [the site]. I’ve been cleaning litter for a few years now around St Helens, but I’ve never seen anything like it.”
With queues of over two hours to get into the festival, masses of rubbish were left in the park before people even got through the festival gates.
This included “vast quantities” of drug paraphernalia, as well as “thousands” of cans, plastic and glass bottles, and several used condoms and condom packets, which Ian had to warn early morning walkers about.
However, as Ian explained, there were no commercial or industrial bins for anyone to throw their rubbish away in.
And while the litter outside the festival was shocking, workers from a contracted cleaning firm informed Ian that the mess inside the gates was even worse.
Despite spending over six hours of Sunday morning cleaning up after festival-goers, Ian explained he didn’t see any contractors or council workers cleaning up around Marshalls Cross Road or Elton Head Road.
Nevertheless, he was amazed by the work from volunteers and litter picking groups which came together to clean up the park.
He said: “It really boosted my spirits to have people turn up like that to help out, without even being asked. We are blessed with some fantastic volunteers in our town.”
Appreciating the difficulty festival organisers had after a stop-start year, he added: “I’m not knocking the festival. The more money it brings in, the more it helps the local area, but a lot more could have been done to alleviate these problems.
“If more had been done, or some communication with litter groups, it would do a lot to build bridges between them and the community.”
An avid litter picker, Ian has challenged himself to walk 1000 miles and collect 2000 bags of litter throughout the year, in aid of the Steve Prescott Foundation.
At present, he has litter picked for 708 miles and collected 1403 bags of litter, raising £2370.
To donate to Ian’s cause, follow this link
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel