The River Avon is one of Britain’s historic waterways, world famous through William Shakespeare’s association with Stratford-upon-Avon. But where it flows past Tesco Superstore underneath the Black Path Bridge in Rugby it is simply an appalling dumping ground.
Back in 2010 Rugby Green Party carried out a survey of the River Avon next to the Tesco store in Leicester Road which showed an incredible 21 shopping trolleys from there dumped in the water. Even then the problem was long-standing but the careless approach by Tesco has still not been resolved seven years later.
Here is a brief video report of what we found when we revisited the location a few days ago.
Mark Summers of Rugby Green Party said:
It is clear that Tesco are making no effort to put in place a permanent long term solution to the problem of junk from their store. The fact that they hold an an iconic part of our heritage in such disregard belies Tesco’s claim to be a community minded company.
It would not be tolerated in Stratford Upon Avon and there is no reason why the people of Rugby should be treated as second class citizens with a degraded environment. The junk in the Avon gives a feeling that there is no pride in our town and does not encourage others to respect where they live.
British Waterways (now the Canal and River Trust) has estimated that the annual cost of recovering trolleys represents just 16 minutes profit for the UKs major retailers. Rugby Green Party will be contacting the Manager of the Store in Rugby demanding to know why this situation is ongoing and when we can expect preventative action.
Rugby Green Party are also asking the community to keep an eye on the River Avon by contacting the Rugby Green Party at rugbygreenparty@googlemail.com to report any concerns about pollution issues whether at Tesco, further downstream beyond CEMEX (Rugby Cement Works) or indeed at any point.
You can also contact us on twitter: @RugbyGreens or message Rugby Greens on Facebook: @RugbyGreenParty
Alternatively you can report incidents to the Canal and River Trust.using their online form.
Rugby Green Party 