Councillor suggests HMP Berwyn inmates could be used to clean up Wrexham’s streets

Inmates from Wrexham’s prison could be used to help clean up the streets of Wrexham.

HMP Berwyn is already working with Wrexham Council to collect and dispose of rubbish on Wrexham Industrial Estate, where the 2,100 capacity prison is based.

A councillor has now suggested ‘trustworthy’ prisoners could be let out under supervision in other areas of the county borough after concerns were raised about the amount of waste being dumped.

The idea was brought up by Labour’s Graham Rogers during a meeting of the authority’s environment scrutiny committee and it was greeted warmly by the council’s chief officer for environment, who said he would invite a representative from the prison to a workshop being set up to take a broader look at the issue of littering in Wrexham.

Darren Williams said: “We have been doing quite a lot of work on the industrial estate and you will probably see from driving round there now that there are bags of litter which are sitting on the side of the road.

“We’re working in partnership with the prison and they’re collecting the litter and we’re then collecting the bagged litter.

“We’re working on private land with that as well.

“My intention is to ask Clair Evans, HMP Berwyn’s business and community engagement manager, if she can come along to the workshop so she can give us some input at that.

“We will be looking for positive ideas and we won’t necessarily be looking always to myself and the environment department to provide all the answers.”

In the future, the council has signalled its intention to move away from using its own staff to deal with issues such as fly tipping when it takes place on private land, unless there is a risk to public safety.

Cllr David A Bithell, lead member for environment, praised the voluntary work being carried out by community groups and councillors to keep the area tidy stressing that similar initiatives would be needed to take pressure off council staff. He also criticised drivers for throwing rubbish out of their windows on the A483.

He said: “One of the things that really annoys me is the litter on the A483 because we don’t get any money whatsoever from the Welsh Government to collect it.

“People throw rubbish out of lorries, they leave it on the side of the road in laybys.

“I think their attitude is to let the council pick it up and leave it to someone else.”

The idea of gathering council staff with other organisations to explore solutions to littering was put forward by Cllr Adrienne Jeorrett, who represents the Smithfield ward, which is on the edge of Wrexham town centre.

The Labour politician’s suggestion to hold a workshop was unanimously backed by the committee as she told them her constituents were growing fed up of rubbish.

She said: “It’s getting to the point where it’s not possible to meet standards because of cuts and austerity measures.

“People in Wrexham are doing littering and there’s some behavioural issues around.

“People in my ward are absolutely sick of the littering that’s going on.

“This is about whether members can get together with the support of officers and external agencies to look at ideas, this isn’t about a moan fest.”

By Liam Randall – BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme).