A MASSIVE 15 tonnes of rubbish was pulled from the River Usk as part of efforts to improve the appearance of Newport city centre.

The huge bounty – which will now be recycled – was collected from the river’s banks between the Town Bridge and George Street Bridge as part of long-running regeneration work on the riverfront.

Among the things pulled up were 15 mobile phones, 15 bicycles, tyres, chairs, wheelbarrows and fencing.

It was collected by a team of just five men, who worked for a combined 418 hours, using a 15-metre tug for storage and a ten-metre trawler.

What made their achievement even more impressive was the fact the River Usk has the second highest tidal rise of any river in the world – 13 metres – which made it even more difficult to collect rubbish from the banks.

The spring clean was a joint venture between urban regeneration company Newport Unlimited, Newport City Council and Associated British Ports, with the rubbish set to be recycled by Amber Waste Management Services and Wastesavers in the city.

Newport Unlimited chief executive Gareth Beer said the one-off project was an important part of moves to change perceptions of Newport.

He pointed to the area being totally transformed over the past ten years, saying: “It is almost unrecognisable now compared with how it once was.

“Much of the previously derelict land has been cleared and has been replaced by numerous highquality new developments that now proudly line the river.”

Chairman of Newport Harbour Commissioners Colin Crick called the work a success, and said he hopes the improvement will be maintained.

In total, five tonnes of fuel was used in the operation, with the trawler using a five-tonne winch and wires to pull waste from the river.

The tug was used as a storage vessel, with the men using an eight-metre work boat, from which they helped to pull rubbish from the river.

Recovered materials were passed to Amber Waste Management Services for recycling and the bikes were taken to Wastesavers for community usage.

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Keep river rubbish-free

THE clean-up of the River Usk in Newport is to be welcomed – and it is to be hoped that the people of the city can do their bit to help keep the river rubbish-free in the future.

Five men spent a total of 418 hours trawling the river for rubbish and collecting 15 tonnes of it – including bicycles, tyres, chairs, wheelbarrows and mobile phones.

The clean-up was organised by regeneration company Newport Unlimited, the city council and Associated British Ports.

Well done to them for the initiative – but we have to wonder why the river has become such a dumping ground.

It is always easy to blame organisations like the council for dirty public areas. But it is not the council that makes areas dirty or dumps tonnes of rubbish in the Usk.

We all have a responsibility to keep the river and other parts of Newport of which we should be proud as clean and tidy as possible.

You cannot just abdicate that responsibility on the basis you pay council tax.

Sitting back and letting public bodies clean up mess that has been caused by a small minority of the rest of us is no way forward.

Clearing the riverfront of rubbish is a job well done by the three organisations who staged this spring clean.

But it should not be their job to keep the river free of rubbish – it should be our job to stop dumping waste materials in the Usk in the first place.