WLD Takes to the Water for Canal Clean Up Project

The Worcester Liberal Democrats have took to the cities canals yesterday in a bid to protect the habitats of local wildlife as well as giving the area a much needed spruce as Summer fast approaches.

Following hot on the heels of the hard work being put in by Councillor John Rudge in Offerton Lane and Corfe Avenue in Warndon Villages, the Worcester Lib Dems have formed the WLD Environmentalist Group. The group aims to highlight key areas of concern in and around Worcester and undertake real initiatives in order to preserve and assist the natural world to help it thrive.

To officially launch this new action group, members today took to the canal between the Marina and Diglis in Kayaks in an attempt to clear the river and its banks of unwanted debris and rubbish which can pose issues to local wildlife, not to mention spoiling the natural beauty of the area.

The paddlers which included Cllr Rudge were ably assisted by a team on the shore including Claines Councillors Karen Holmes and Mel Allcott as well as their friends and family. WLD member and organiser of the event, Hannah Webb said ‘We felt this was a really important thing to do to help protect and improve quality of life for the local wildlife as we have many families of birds on the canal to which litter is a danger. Its also such a beautiful walking path so will hope it will improve the views for the public.

She also said ‘Its great to be able to combine an activity such as kayaking and also use it to help keep the area clean and safe. We are able to take care of the river and its wildlife and have an immense amount of fun in the process!!’

WLD Chairman Stuart Wild was also keen to stress that the WLD Environmentalist Group which he helped to create would be building on the success of this first event. He said ‘this effort was just the first step.

‘We hope to organise many future clear ups along multiple stretches. We know there are many good people in Worcester who care deeply about our rivers, waterways and wildlife who want to get involved. Our aims with this group are to enable that to happen and to really highlight areas of concern across the city. We also aim to carry out many more environmental projects in the near future.

To that end we encourage people to contact their Lib Dem councillors and together we hope we can affect change were its needed as well as maintain areas to a high standard across the city.’