Darwen beauty spot silt row goes to Commons (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Darwen beauty spot silt row goes to Commons

5:40pm Wednesday 28th July 2010 in

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A PETITION has gone to the House of Commons following a row over silt left at a Darwen beauty spot.

MP Jake Berry took the action in a bid to stop council workmen again leaving hun-dreds of tons of silt in ‘unsightly heaps’ around Sunnyhurst Wood.

Campaigners say ‘small mountains’ of the material – some up to 8ft high – have been left in front of landmarks such as the bandstand.

Council bosses say at present the only silt on site is in the paddling pool itself, as a suitable way to dispose of it has yet to be identified.

Mr Berry presented the public petition on behalf of the Friends of Sunnyhurst Wood to the Speaker of the Commons.

He said: “Hopefully this will raise the public profile of the campaign.

"It’s not an aggressive act, but it will help us put the building blocks in place for a meeting to deal with the annual problem.”

Dennis Gillibrand, chairman of the friends group, started a petition for users of the wood in March and gathered 100 signitures.

He said: “We’re very pleased Mr Berry has taken this petition on, and we hope he can help us to find some landfill tax money to remove these unsightly heaps when silt is taken out of the water and put on the land to dry.

“We want it used, moved or regenerated."

Tony Watson, head of environmental services, said all silt piled on land had been removed.

He said: “The only silt currently at the site is in the paddling pond itself.”