FARNHAM dog walkers, residents and those visiting the town have expressed their anger and dismay this week at the level of rubbish regularly left strewn across Gostrey Meadow. The waste, which many believe to be left by drunken teenagers who use the park at night, has upset those who like to enjoy the area by day but have to pick their way across cans, bottles, plastic bags and other debris. Most of this week's complaints came on Tuesday, when an array of refuse was left in the park until council workers cleared it away in the afternoon. John Holloway, a Farnham resident who walks his dogs across the park almost every day, described the common sight of rubbish on the grass as "disgraceful" and called on the council to clean it up properly. "It's now a tradition that on my Saturday morning walk I'm faced with a horrendous view of food packaging, plastic bags and drinks cans across the whole park. "The kids who do this normally ignore the bins but I've noticed more and more regularly that the bins are completely full up anyway. It's a terrible thing to see first thing in the morning and some people are so fed up with it now that they're going out there and trying to tackle it themselves." He went on to describe how he often sees an elderly woman walking around the park with a bin bag picking up litter. "She shouldn't be doing that. There are large areas of litter and junk and it's even more disheartening when you see the mounds of broken glass in there. With two dogs I have to really watch where I'm walking when I go through there." When questioned about the possible cause of the litter, Mr Holloway blamed youngsters who use the park at night. "I've seen them all sitting in there on some evenings and it's amazing what you do see sometimes. I've witnessed kids on mountain bikes trying to ride up the slides in the playground and I've seen kids trying to set fire to the swings. It winds me up so much that I want to say something to them but if I did one of them would probably throw his bike at me or something, it's not worth it." Brian Jones, an Australian visiting his niece in Farnham, said that the amount of litter in Gostrey Meadow was "disgusting" and would never be seen in Australia. "I live near Adelaide, which is a big city but even in the parks there you don't see litter like that. It's a pride thing isn't it? "If kids are making that mess at night then they all need a bloody good kick up the arse." Greg Taylor, a student at the University College for the Creative Arts in Farnham, regularly works in town on a Saturday morning and crosses Gostrey Meadow. "The park is always a state at around 10am on a Saturday without exception. The amount of waste in there is really quite shocking sometimes. I'm going to start taking photographs of it and sending them off to the council to show them just what it looks like every week." Waverley Borough Council, who employ contracting firm Glendale to clean Gostrey Meadow and other town centre parks, said that the recent high levels of rubbish were due to the time of year. "There is a problem in the summer because there is nice weather and people like to sit in Gostrey Meadow, which adds to the waste there. Litter picking takes place twice a day and our contractors also look after Brightwell Gardens and Borelli Walk. "At the weekends we have a roving patrol that operates between the three parks and ensures that they are clean. Unfortunately it's always worse at this time of year and while we can pick up all the litter that people throw down there, we encourage people to use the bins provided." He went on to admit that litter had been particularly bad on Tuesday because the park attendant had been diverted to another job. "Unfortunately I can see how there would have been complaints as there was litter left there until mid- morning but it was cleared up as soon as possible."
