The article in your edition of March 31 regarding litter at Radipole Lake, followed by the letter from Cllr Kate Wheller on April 1, are timely reminders, yet again, of the appalling and widespread litter problem throughout Dorset, and the different forms it takes.

Unfortunately, all we seem to have at present are isolated complaints from individuals recording their frustration about what they see around them, although I suspect they are in fact articulating what a sizeable majority of the population as a whole feel. The difficulty is that at present there seems to be no overall or conjoined approach to the problem, which requires a combination of education, publicity, enforcement, and, most importantly, practical action such as litter-picking, if anything is to be achieved.

Cllr Wheller welcomes the assurances given on behalf of Dorset Waste Partnership, but expresses reservations about what they are actually doing in practice, and I think she is entirely justified in harbouring such doubts.

To take but one example, last Friday the DWP recycling lorry, having collected from the properties near us, proceeded to scatter a large amount of material along the roads nearby (to add to the rubbish already lying there, having been thrown out of passing cars), and all along the West Stafford Bypass, which is a complete disgrace at present with an excess of litter having accumulated during its various floods.

This also begs the question of what the Highways Department are doing, as not only has no attempt been made by it to clear the mess along the bypass, but all the litter shredded last autumn, when the verges along the roads into Dorchester were cut quite unnecessarily, remains. Cllr Wheller refers to a similar incident at Granby a few years back, but, as far as I can see, this is a regular occurrence, and nobody who has responsibility for the roadside seems to take a blind bit of notice!

There is perhaps one small piece of light on the horizon, inasmuch as a working group entitled "Litter Free Dorset" has recently been formed, which, hopefully, will be able to work in conjunction with its sister organisation, "Litter Free Coast and Sea", which has been operating for some while now. The aim of these bodies is to draw together the various threads, and involve all interested parties, including, slightly ironically, DWP, in order to try to develop a balanced and all-encompassing strategy to deal with what is rapidly becoming a major scourge of our increasingly materialistic throw-away society.

It is possible, as there are areas in Dorset which are remarkably tidy, and, strangely enough, when I drove to London last week the M3 seemed remarkably litter-free, but the stretch of the A31 between Bere Regis and Ringwood was its usual horrendous self, especially around Wimborne (funnily enough, I do seem to remember they managed to clear it up for the Olympics!).

I hope, therefore that all public service organisations, as well as the public themselves can be persuaded to do their bit, but how about The Echo?

I issued a challenge when I last wrote on this subject for The Echo to mount a campaign to reduce littering in Dorset, and I repeat that invitation, as well as one to the Highways Department to explain their position.

Chris Lousley

Lewell Mill Farm

West Stafford