Chippenham river clean-up this weekend

Chippenham river clean-up

Volunteers will gather in Chippenham town centre on Sunday to spruce up the River Avon.

Divers will be going underwater to remove debris from the riverbed and helpers from the Chippenham and Villages Area Partnership, will remove rubbish from its banks.

Chippenham Town Council staff will remove all rubbish collected.

The big clean up comes after a recent meeting between the Chippenham Town Mayor, Councillor David Powell and Calne Divers, Chippenham Town Council is striving to tidy up the river area through the town.

We recently posted some pictures showing a stretch of the river looking particularly unpleasant so the clean up is welcome news.

The work will run from the Town Bridge up to the footbridge by the golf course in Monkton Park.

Adrian Jones, head of service delivery at Chippenham Town Council said: "The River Avon is a real landmark feature for the town and it is great that volunteers from the rivers sub-group of the Chippenham and Areas Partnership (ChAP) and the Calne Divers have given up their time to help tidy this valuable asset of ours."

The clean up will start at 10am and finish at 3pm.

Jon Dodsworth of Calne Divers said "On the day we hope to have 10-15 divers, and to carry out more than 20 dives in total. The section of river we hope to clear is about 0.5 miles long, and very wide. In doing so we will reach depths of no more than 4m but we expect visibility of about 0.5m, making this a very challenging operation."

Anyone wishing to help volunteer with the tidy-up should contact Adrian Jones at Chippenham Town Council on 01249 446699 or email ajones@chippenham.gov.uk