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Big Dee Day 2015

Published: 10/09/2015

Flintshire County Council is proud to be hosting this year’s Big Dee Day on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 September. The annual clean-up, coordinated by Flintshire Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council and Natural Resources Wales is back for its 9th year! For two days, across North Wales and Cheshire, volunteers, conservation groups and businesses will join forces with council services and Natural Resources Wales. Everyone involved will be working hard to clear the river and marine litter that washes up along the River Dee, and paint and spruce up the special places along its banks and coast, from the Welsh mountains to the coastal habitat of the Dee estuary. Last year hundreds of people took part and hundreds of bags of litter were collected. In Flintshire, the efforts are coordinated by the Council’s Coastal Rangers and Streetscene service. Rangers take the opportunity to work with community groups to plant trees, bulbs and help restore wetland habitat along the county’s coastline with community volunteers. The event is supported by many community groups and numerous businesses including Airbus, Kingspan, ENI, and many more. This year, Tesco is the latest company to get on board with 80 staff members volunteering their services for the clean-up. Councillor Bernie Attridge, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “Flintshire Council is very proud to be hosting this year’s Big Dee Day. The event has got bigger every year since it was first established by the Council’s Countryside Service in 2007 with more and more people, community groups and businesses getting involved. “It really is fantastic to see so many wanting to help look after and protect our local environment. The volunteers play a huge part in helping to ensure our coastline is kept clean for both visitors and wildlife. There’s still time to get involved if you would like to come along and join in.” Senior Ranger at Flintshire County Council Mike Taylor said: “We’re so grateful to everyone who has supported The Big Dee Day over the last nine years and made it such a success. It’s grown into a major cross border event covering miles of coastline from Talacre to Chester and Llangollen. There’s a real sense of community pride, with volunteers not only working to clean-up the river but also planting trees and bulbs and painting to enhance the environment along the banks.” Please contact the Visitors Centre at Wepre Park in Connah’s Quay on 01352 703900 for information on events taking place in Flintshire. Notes to Editors This year’s Big Dee Day Breakfast Launch, sponsored by Airbus, will take place at the Chocs Away Diner at Hawarden Airport on Friday 18 September. Press are welcome to attend between 7.30am and 9am for photo opportunities and speeches. The Big Dee Day has been an annual event since 2007. The idea first began on Talacre beach when Flintshire Countryside Service and partners BHP Billiton, Presthaven Sands, Talacre Beach Club, the local community and Natural Resources Wales decided to survey the beach to help highlight marine litter and the damage it can do. Since then, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Denbighshire County Council, Wrexham County Borough Council, Wirral Borough Council and Snowdonia National Park, plus many other volunteers and local businesses – including Airbus, Kingspan and Kimberley Clark – have also got involved and the event has gone from strength to strength. Thousands of bags of litter have been collected by hundreds of volunteers, and this year’s event promises to be bigger and better than ever!