School children got their first taste of politics by lobbying Harrow Council to address flytipping in their area.

Staff and pupils from Glebe Primary School, in Darcy Gardens, Kenton, went to a full council meeting on Thursday, November 14 and presented a petition calling for their area to be cleaned up.

The action was prompted by students sitting on the school’s Eco Council, who were concerned about frequent flytipping and littering on streets surrounding the school.

Lorraine Monteiro, a member of the school’s leadership team, who accompanied the children on the visit to the Civic Centre, said: “It is important that young people have an opportunity to learn about local government and to have a voice which can influence decision making.

“The whole school community takes great pride in its environment and is particularly proud of the new building, which opened in September. However, the children have recently become very concerned about the frequent flytipping and dumping of domestic waste that is happening in the streets and alleys around the school.”

After circulating pictures of mattresses and other domestic waste dumped in the street outside the school, councillors applauded the children and thanked them for raising this issue after asking them questions on how they feel the problem could be tackled.

Nana Asante, the Mayor of Harrow who chaired the meeting, said: “They say politics is too important to be left to politicians, so I want to thank you for coming here. You should be very proud.”

Leader of Harrow Council, councillor Susan Hall (Conservative), told the children that she will look at their petition and would be happy to invite them back for a meeting to further discuss matters.