Put out the biodegradable bunting! Garland your Council dustperson with flowers!
Containerised waste and gull-proof bags should reach most remaining benighted corners of the New Town within weeks.
With the exception of Bellevue Crescent, where Spurtle hears an objection in principle will be dealt with in October, wheelie bins will soon have finished beautifying nearby sections of Albany Street, Cornwallis Place, Dublin Street, Dundonald Street, Gayfield Square, Leith Walk, Nelson Street, Royal Circus and Crescent, Scotland Street, St Vincent Street and York Lane.
Visit the Council website here for more precise locations and bin dimensions.
And on Union, Forth and Cumberland Streets, additional wheelie bins nobody wanted, and which are surplus to local requirements, have recently been situated next to existing bins with - locals complain - no or questionable paperwork to accompany them. Union and Forth Street residents have already extracted a promise from the Council that they will be removed, and we suspect that the Cumberland Street ones will not be far behind.
In both cases, the new bins seem to have been well-meant but ill-considered responses to problems elsewhere in the neighbourhood.
Cumberland Street resident Caroline Roussot tells Spurtle ‘Part of the problem with local mess is that CEC doesn't seem to have a system whereby the refuse collectors on their usual “beat” report back on any problems they see. It seems that rubbish outside of bins or gull-proof bags must just remain on the street until a householder makes a specific request for a cleansing team to attend.’
Roussot’s attempts to remedy the problem have so far been stalled by a mixture of knee-deep bureaucracy and officials on holiday. Last night , New Town and Broughton Community Council promised to take up her cause if no progress follows the relevant Council officer’s return from leave on 18 August.
Spurtle has found Twitter a surprisingly effective way of reporting bin problems in recent weeks. A photo and location tweeted to @CityCentreLeith has so far brought about a prompt response from the Neighbourhood Partnership in most cases (see screen-grab below).
Tell us about your experiences and realistic expectations of refuse services in the New Town. You can contact us by email: spurtle@hotmail.co.uk or Twitter: @theSpurtle or Facebook: Broughton Spurtle
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Email from C. Thomson: This is an ongoing problem at No. 1 Bellevue Crescent [see photo below]. Have informed environmental wardens with little success!
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Email from Mette Baillie of Freja Designer Dressmaking (Cumberland Street): I have had a huge issue with rubbish – such as general household waste as well as disused furniture etc. – being dumped outside my lovely couture shop. My clients have to hop, skip and jump to make a ‘safe’ entry to my shop, and duck to avoid attacks from seagulls munching away on the food waste.
It’s a real problem that many New Town Residents have resisted having big bins in their street because it does not look nice, but they are quite happy to dump their rubbish in neighbouring streets. When the bins are full, many residents have no concern about putting their full bin bags with food waste, nappies and other disgusting items next to the bin for the seagulls and other vermin to spread on the surrounding pavements.
The 48-hour action time in which the Council offer to clean it up is no use at all. I would like to see communal bins organised for all the streets, so some streets do not have to ‘host’ the waste from neighbouring ones. But I would also like to appeal to residents not to put their bin-bag down on the pavement. If one bin is full, go to the next one, or keep the rubbish it in your house for next clearance.
It’s a very selfish approach to not want full bins in your own street, but be quite happy to dump your waste outside somebody else’s property.
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Email from Ian Shaw (6.8.14):
Dear Spurtle
I, along with many other residents of Cumberland Street (West), have been highlighting the intolerable problem of discarded waste and fly tipping around our communal bins for the past few years. I fully endorse the comments made by Mette Baillie that some residents need to think about the consequences of their actions when they dump their waste, or fly tip by the bins, rather than find a nearby bin with capacity or, heaven forbid, take their waste back home again. After all, before the deployment of communal bins in 2011 residents had to retain their household waste until collection day. Passing the problem of discarded waste and fly tipping onto a neighbour is unacceptable antisocial behaviour.
I understand the reluctance of some residents to have bins deployed in their streets, particularly when they see the state of the streets around existing overflowing bins after a visit by gulls or antisocial residents. The deployment of unsightly communal bins is the price we all have to pay to dispose of our household waste at will in a high density population environment such as ours. We get two collection per week, some parts of the country only get two per month! Hopefully if residents now use the additional communal bins responsibly and as intended, we may see an end to this tedious and environmentally damaging situation. I do hope so.
I would like to thank Spurtle for their consistent support in high lighting this issue over the years. We live in wonderful city and it is tragic to see irresponsibly discarded waste detract from the magnificence of the New Town.
Regards
Dr Ian Shaw
(Cumberland Street)
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@theSpurtle - new wheelie bins deployed today on Nelson, Scotland + Royal Cres. String out the bunting!
@NTCleanStreets @theSpurtle But one in Scotland Street is in the wrong place. Despite 3day visit by roadmarking team, lines still undrawn.