Grant Shapps meets with Matthew Brister to discuss Matthew’s efforts improving the natural environment in Welwyn Garden City.
Having lived in the local area for 17 years, Matthew Brister has been busy working with Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and Herts County Council as a volunteer to make Welwyn Garden City a more pleasant environment.
Last year, Matthew spent over 10 hours a week litter picking and managed to collect over 400 bags of litter. He also reported over 500 fly-tips in the local area.
Grant recently met with Mathew at the footpath between Peartree Lane Surgery and Broadwater Road to discuss Matthew’s incredible efforts and his concerns about the state of the footpath. The footpath itself is overgrown, strewn with litter and poorly maintained, and Matthew was concerned that neither Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council or Herts County Council were claiming responsibility for it.
Following this meeting, Grant has successfully identified that Herts County Council is the responsible party and he is pushing them to clean up the footpath as soon as possible.
Grant commented on the visit with Matthew highlighting that he is “extremely impressed by Matthew’s work in Welwyn Garden City. He’s already picked up 200 bags of litter this year and managed to collect 50 bags in just one week alone. Littering and fly-tipping is a scourge in our community and something I am dedicated to tackling. Matthew’s work is a brilliant example to us all.”
