As Oldham’s programme of replacing litter bins across the ward goes ahead, the old bins are currently being housed in a storage area at the Lees Cemetery, much to the concern of many local residents.
Local Councilllor Sam Al-Hamdani challenged the parks team over the location after residents raised their concerns that they were visible from graveside in one section of the cemetery. The team have agreed to clear the site as soon as possible.
Sam said: “The bins are clearly visible through a gap in the hedges, and that is not what someone wants to see when they are visiting the graves of relatives or friends.
“The team have agreed that they will assess the bins as soon as possible, and get any that are not usable scrapped as quickly as they can. While that part of the cemetery is a storage area, the hedge around it is incomplete, which means it intrudes too much on the main part of the site.”
The bins are being assessed to see if any are reusable, and any that are in good enough condition will be made available for community groups, on the proviso that they are clearly branded as the community group’s, and the group takes responsibility for clearing and maintaining them.
Sam added: “The principle of reusing as many of the bins as possible is absolutely the correct one; we just want to make sure it is done as quickly as possible, to minimise their impact on what should be a calm and beautiful place of rest.
“If any groups are interested in taking responsibility for a bin, please get in touch, and we can let you know what you would have to do, and if enough are in a good condition, we can work together to keep the area clean.”