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University boat race - a clean sweep for Connaught
April 6th 2010
As Cambridge University beat Oxford in the annual Boat Race on Saturday 3 April by a length and a half, Connaught was busy keeping Putney Embankment clean and tidy whilst 250,000 spectators cheering the crews on dropped plastic beer glasses, crisps wrappers and various detritus on the road and slipway.
Thousands of spectators crowd the shores of the Thames along the Putney Embankment and leave behind a large amount of litter. Putney is within Wandsworth and as part of its partnership with Wandsworth Borough Council it is the duty of the Connaught Environmental team to make sure the Embankment along Lower Richmond Road is returned to its customary pristine standards as soon as possible. The huge crowds drop extra litter that has to be picked up through out the day by a team of eight pickers and then swept clean by Connaught's vehicles once the Boat Race is underway and the crowds rush to watch the race unfold. Connaught employees sweep and hose down the Embankment as the crowds begin to disperse.
Wandsworth Borough Council has a duty to keep about 417 kilometres of public highway clean and clear of litter and detritus. Together both Wandsworth and Connaught are working towards improving the Local Environmental Quality (LEQ) of London. Putney Embankment on its own often provides the team with some interesting dilemmas and the slip way running below the Embankment down to the river is often awash with waste. After one high tide, the Connaught team were obliged to clear 18 tonnes of waste – sometimes it might include anything from railway sleepers to dead sheep.