Demands for Transport Secretary to clean up Denham roundabout

Jun 22 2011 By Jack Abell

Denham Roundabout

A RESIDENT has lobbied the secretary of state for transport to clean up a roundabout which has been blighted by litter.

The Denham Roundabout, near to the A40 and Junction One of the M40, has long suffered from the problem, which has mostly been caused by drivers throwing litter from their cars.

However, Peter Silverman, who runs the Clean Highways group, which lobbies authorities to clean up their highways, has now targeted the Denham Roundabout.

He has had other success in Buckinghamshire before, having won a campaign to clean up the A404 in Beaconsfield, and to sort out litter problems on the M40.

Mr Silverman, a retired financial advisor from Ruislip, wrote to the Highways Agency earlier this year asking them to clean up the whole area, and when this did not happen, he sent a Litter Abatement Order Warning Notice to Philip Hammond, secretary of state for transport.

The order can be used by a member of the public to improve the cleanliness of an area, and allows anyone to serve a notice, via a Magistrates' Court, to get long standing litter problems cleared up.

Following the sending of the warning notice, some of the area, including two of the slip roads leading to the motorway were cleaned, but others on the other side of the motorway were not touched.

Mr Silverman said: "I was told that they would not be cleaned until August unless there was an opportunity to do so when the slips had to be closed for some other purpose. I therefore instituted proceedings against the secretary of state for transport under the Environmental Protection Act by lodging a formal complaint, with supporting photographs and a map, for a Litter Abatement Orders at High Wycombe Magistrates Court."

The case was set to take place in June, but Mr Silverman had hoped to meet with Mike Penning, under-secretary of state for transport to discuss the issue, and other Highways Agency officers.

However, they were unable to meet Mr Silverman while the case was ongoing, meaning that their meeting would have had to wait until October.

Mr Silverman eventually withdrew his complaint because he did not want to wait that long, but over the course of four months, his actions have led to four clean ups of the area, and a large amount of rubbish has been removed.

Resident Jim Tyler, who lives near to the roundabout, said: "It's looking better than it was, and while it's not perfect, it's a big improvement. It just shows that if people are determined, things will get done."