13 October 2020

Clearing up

Following the departure of the trespassers, the inevitable need to clear up the site got underway.  Guildford Borough Council’s Joint Enforcement Team visited without delay.  They took away bagged-up rubbish, collected litter, dealt with the more hazardous material such as human waste, and removed most of the bulky fly tipping. They sanitised the worst contaminated areas.  They advised that the remaining waste, which was largely but not entirely green waste left at several places around the site, should be burnt as soon as was practicable given that no-one could be sure what was in all the different heaps.

Very shortly after the trespassers left Trustees and staff had been extremely grateful to receive two offers from residents to help with the clear-up, and they agreed to help with this particular activity.  Guildford Environmental Health officers were notified in advance of the intent to have the controlled burn and confirmed they were happy for this to go ahead.

Staff and volunteers completed the burn in a couple of hours on Friday 9 October during a useful gap in the weather and before the material got much wetter as the season advances.  It was much more of a ‘flaming’ fire than this photo suggests!  We are extremely grateful for their public-spirited approach.

 

 

Evidence of the recent trespass has now been almost all removed