Westbury residents are being urged to take to the streets – with brooms and litter pickers.
The village has been branded “tired and shabby” by the Westbury on Trym Society – and it has asked everyone to get out and help smarten it up.
Society members were recently joined by members of Sustainable Westbury (SusWoT) armed with spades, trowels, and scrapers to give the War Memorial and shop fronts a weed and tidy.
SusWoT hold a monthly litter pick around the village – now they are asking everyone to make a regular commitment to help.
Society chair Hilary Long said it was time for residents to “wake up” and get involved.
She said: “It was this a superb piece of teamwork from our two groups, for just two hours, that resulted in a clean, smart village centre. Blaise nurseries have provided us all with a magnificent display of flowers and amazingly coloured, resilient tulips this year, crowning the pots of primulas and pansies – the clear up set them off to great advantage”.
Donations from residents are being collected to replenish the Society’s ‘Flower Fund’ and a further summer display is planned, supported by many Westbury businesses with their hanging baskets.
“Our intention is to make this Sunday working party a regular one at the end of every month and gradually to clear other streets of weeds – they are OK in fields and woodlands, but they make the village look neglected and sad if left to flourish.
“We are fighting to restore the looks and life in this historic place. We would love to have some more volunteers joining us at the end of each month – it shows how much can be achieved in a short time if a few people show willing and it also makes you feel good afterwards!”
The clean-up volunteers at the War Memorial
Photo: Bill Long