Edinburgh bin hubs: Fewer than one in 10 review requests result in any change or relocation
Edinburgh council's installation of controversial bin hubs right outside people's homes prompted requests for 266 of them to be reviewed - but just 22 are to be changed or relocated.
And the transport and environment committee heard that residents whose requests had been turned down had been given no explanation why.
A deputation to the committee by campaigners outlined the misery the bin hubs were causing and claimed there were often alternative locations available.
Nick Hepworth of South Meadows Action Group (SMAG) said: "The bin hub programme, introduced in 2021, was clearly well intentioned but the serious flaws in its original design criteria have resulted in bin hubs being installed in completely inappropriate locations.
"Across the city, large hubs, some 1.8 metres high, sometimes 8 metres long, are being put immediately in front of homes and businesses, causing persistent noise and odour problems, flytipping and blocked outloook."
He cited the example of a grocers on Argyle Place. "There's a bin hub running across the entire frontage of his shop, where he has fresh fruit and veg on sale 2ft away from stinking bins. On the other side of the road is a high stone wall where the bins could go, not bothering anybody."
And he said there was a line of bins outside his own flat in Warrender Park Road. "Every morning when I take my daughter to school we're faced with overflowing bins. The noise, the smell, the visual intrusion and the impact of being hemmed in are horrendous.
"We put our flat on the market - we couldn't get a buyer. Who would want to live next to a dump site? Again, these bins could simply go a few yards up the road beside a high hedge where they have been for 30 years without causing anybody any problems."
He said in November 2024 the council had promised greater flexibility in siting decisions and more collaboration with residents. The sites he had mentioned were included in the list for urgent review, but residents had heard nothing since.
Lib Dem councillor Hal Osler said there had been "enormous community engagement" over the issue of bin hubs and read out part of an email from one resident, sent at nearly midnight after they had been "woken up yet again by a vehicle stopping outside our home to dump rubbish in the bin hub directly outside our building".
They said the "persistent and ongoing disturbance" had been going on for almost two years. "Over this period, I have provided ample evidence of the impact this bin hub has had on our lives, including written complaints, photographs and video footage."
Cllr Osler said residents had been told when they requested a changed they would be informed of the outcome, but they had not been.
"There are over 200 bin hubs where we have no idea why they failed. It is really important we let residents know, based on the criteria, why it was not possible to move any of these bins."
And Tory councillor Iain Whyte said: "We need some kind of mechanism where there is feedback to residents and councillors and others about why those 200-odd bin hubs are not going to be changed in any way.
“There are 22 that are, but what about the rest? We don't know. And often, as we've heard, these are causing residents considerable problems around sleep, foul smells next to windows and all sorts of things.
"We don't want to have to be going into lots Freedom of Information requests for every single bin hub."
The committee agreed to publish the full list of all 266 requested reviewed bin hubs and the reasons given for the review outcome for each hub.