Templars estate residents have cleared out more than 18 tons of rubbish in Witham's first-ever rubbish amnesty.

Since May 17, residents from the 440-home estate off Cressing Road have been bringing out their unwanted items, and council collectors have taken them away from beside the road for just £3.

They have been offered an amazing variety of rubbish.

Cleaners have so far taken away 45 chairs, 19 tables, 29 video recorders, a rabbit hutch, 16 washing machines, 11 microwaves, five lawnmowers, five vacuum cleaners, countless bicycles and a mountain of assorted rubble, wood and concrete.

The operation is the latest phase in the Templars Together project, which hopes to regenerate the previously rundown estate by encouraging residents to work with the district council to clean it up and generate community pride.

Then council staff cut the grass and removed the weeds ready for residents to take over the Doorstep Green project, which is set to transform the neglected open space in front of the shops into a play and sport area at a cost of a quarter of a million pounds, much of it from Government grants.

"The idea is to allow the community to take direct action to improve their environment, to feel some pride in their surroundings," said council spokeswomen Ann Proudfoot.

Published Friday, May 30, 2003

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