Piles of rubbish left on Bristol parkland makes staff ‘fearful of sunny weekends’

Alex Seabrook
·2-min read
-Credit: (Image: James Beck/BristolLive)
-Credit: (Image: James Beck/BristolLive)


Piles of rubbish regularly left on the Downs in Bristol have made park staff “fearful of sunny weekends”. Mountains of waste left behind whenever the sun is shining have to be taken away every day by staff working for Bristol City Council and volunteers.

Clifton Down and Durdham Down, in the north of the city, are a popular place to spend a sunny afternoon. But an increasing number of visitors to the Downs appear to be leaving their rubbish behind.

Ben Skuse, area parks supervisor, said he now fears when the weather forecast predicts sunshine on a weekend or a bank holiday. He added the piles of rubbish were becoming a “huge problem”.

Read more: New tax proposed on people living near Bristol Downs to help pay for maintenance

Read more: Mini golf course and cricket nets planned for Bristol Downs

He said: “It’s the best time of year to admire the colours, trees, vegetation and the meadows. But the big challenge for our team is to prevent these beautiful scenes from being sullied by the unwelcome quantity of litter left behind by some visitors.

“A massive part of the team’s work at the moment on a daily basis is just to come in and clear up as best we can, in all the different areas of the Downs, which will enable the site to be safe and welcoming again. Priority number one every morning now is to clear up, clear up, clear up.

“The quantities of waste from the bins and off the ground that we’re taking away, the tonnage of it that goes to the waste transfer station, are going just in one direction, up, up and up. It’s a huge problem.”

More bins have been put out in areas where the team thinks they are most needed. And volunteer litter pickers have also been helping out keeping the parkland looking clean and tidy.

He added: “It definitely makes you someone who looks at a weather forecast, and when you see the sun out on the weekend or a bank holiday, it makes you fear those periods. But we’ll continue going about our duties as best we can.

“I would like to keep thanking the nameless but growing number of people who we see on a daily basis taking it upon themselves to come to the Downs equipped with a litter picker and bag, to help us maintain the site for the benefit of all who visit and the nature that lives here and the wildlife.”

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