Regina residents are searching for answers as garbage piles continue to grow in the North Central neighbourhood.
Matthew Wesley has worked to clean up North Central for the last nine years — something he wishes didn’t need to be done.
“Like 70 per cent of the North Central Community alleyways are filled with garbage,” Wesley explained. “It’s frustrating because even if there were 30 of me out here helping clean it up, it still wouldn’t make a difference.”
“There’s like needles and glass and diapers and rotten food and god knows what else in all of this,” Wesley said. “Nails sticking out of wood and old furniture like it’s so dangerous”.
The trash is mainly found in back alleys, but it isn’t always from people living in the community.
Regina city councillors and the North Central Community Association (NCCA) say many people in other communities are illegally dumping their trash in North Central.
“Most of the garbage that’s in the back alleys and on vacant lots in North Central is not North Central garbage,” Pat Faulconbridge, the executive director of the NCCA said. “They’ll dump mattresses, old appliances, and they just drop them off anywhere in North Central.”
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Once the ground is thawed, she said there will be a big community cleanup through their ‘Renew’ program. Graffiti in the area is also painted over between May and the end of October.
“We have a number of youth that are going to come out, and we have community volunteers that come out for the community cleanups,” she said, but went on to say even after the cleanups, the problem quickly comes back.
“Within two or three weeks, the alleys look the same as they did when we picked it up.”
Faulconbridge said the stigma around North Central has become a real problem in the city, but hopes things change moving forward.
“People that live in North Central are proud of their community,” she said. “Instead of posting that picture of the garbage in the community, volunteer to come help and pick it up.”
Wesley does say there are some people who care for the community, he just hopes more people will do their part to help keep garbage off the streets.
“It’s good work, but it’s a thankless job,” he said. “A fair amount of people don’t seem to care or turn a blind eye to it.”
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