Hathershaw Residents Take Back Their Streets

Once overflowing with dumped fridges, mattresses and sofas, parts of Hathershaw are being transformed thanks to an award-winning community litter picking group.

Gavin Clarke, 58, started picking rubbish on his own in 2016. Now there are seven dedicated volunteers working alongside local councillor Shaid Mushtaq. They established the Hathershaw Community Group (HCG) with the aim of cleaning one of the most deprived areas of Oldham.

“We formed a committee and got funding. Shaid is great, and he listens to all our concerns.” Clarke said, “He got us funding for some cameras which we installed in four alleyways. It was a huge success, and it decreased the incidents of fly-tipping massively resulting in an 80 percent reduction.”

The volunteers don’t just pick litter every day, but they also remove graffiti and pick up leaves.

Clarke started the daily cleans after he noticed the deterioration in his local area. The alley behind his house was packed with rubbish but has been transformed since.

HCG has grown steadily, and now there are 11 alleys covered by CCTV. They were the first group in Oldham to use cameras in this manner. Since 2022 they have caught 141 fly-tippers for 485 offences.

In 2022, just in block one out of eight, which consists of ten streets and six alleys, there were 581 fly-tipping incidents in one year.

In 2024, however, there were 181 offences in comparison. Credit for this massive reduction, Clarke added, also goes to the enforcement officers from Oldham Council. Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been saved due to the work of HCG.

Clarke said: “This area used to be a slum. It looked dreadful. Since 2022, I have reported more than 700 fly-tips.”

The volunteers are a dedicated and diverse group. Ray Handley, who is 79, collects more than 10 bags of litter a week. Linda Marchment looks after three streets and one alley, while Barbara Caffrey, a committee member, cleans a 130-metre-long alley singlehandedly.

HCG started two schemes: one is ‘Fresh Start,’ which is concerned with putting CCTVs in alleys, while the other is the ‘Adopt a Street’ scheme where residents are encouraged to look after their local area.

In the north of the UK, there are a lot of terraced houses built for mill workers. They were designed with back alleys which is where fly tipping now takes place.

“Sometimes, people come from outside our area and dump things and leave, but there are also people who live on the street and simply dump rubbish,” Cllr Mushtaq said, “It’s a question of having pride for where you live and contributing to cleanliness. I pick litter as a councillor to engage with residents from my ward.”

Mushtaq said that due to the work and campaigns of HCG, some of the dirtiest alleys in Oldham have now been spotless for two years due to surveillance and hard work.