Edinburgh Council faces huge financial pressures but keeping streets clean and tidy is a priority – Iain Whyte

I want to clean up Edinburgh. I made it the highlight of the Conservative council election campaign in May and I’m not giving up.
The recent bin strike highlighted the problems caused by littering (Picture: Lisa Ferguson)The recent bin strike highlighted the problems caused by littering (Picture: Lisa Ferguson)
The recent bin strike highlighted the problems caused by littering (Picture: Lisa Ferguson)

I’m sick of seeing residents and visitors comment on how filthy our streets are. The recent bin strike may have brought the issue to the fore, but the neglect has been there for years.

Last Thursday I managed to get some action started when two reports came to committee responding to my calls for improvements on communal bins and street cleanliness.

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Finally, the other political parties have joined me in agreeing that the locations of the council’s new communal bin hubs should be agreed with resident input. Any previous requests for change were frequently met with a “computer says no” response. But flexibility is vital. Who wants a glass recycling bin a couple of metres from their bedroom window?

I’ve also gained agreement to monitor dumping beside communal bins, a huge source of litter. Large street bins naturally attract dumping so we must keep the areas around them clean.

I’d like to see these communal bins put underground as Liverpool Council is doing. This is costing about the same as our big dumpsters, excellent value for money, and I’ve asked that we consider copying them.

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Our street-cleaning service has been neglected for years by a succession of SNP/Labour-run councils. The proof was in the report as the council only spends £12m and £1m of that is a one-off extra this year. This is only about one per cent of the council budget and it will take at least an extra £5m to get back on track. The results are appalling with our streets and parks being the dirtiest of the four big cities in Scotland, plagued by litter and overflowing bins.

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Thankfully my calls for action will now lead to a reorganisation to improve barrow beats and a specialist team to deal with fly-tipping, wash dirty streets, repair broken litter bins, and remove graffiti. This will be a start within existing resources although there are no guarantees of how much it can improve standards.

Come budget time, we need extra resources so we can get a dedicated graffiti team, communal bin washing and a once-a-year deep clean of the streets. It would also provide 55 extra staff as astonishingly there is currently no cover for sickness and holiday absence. This is a damning indictment of how the SNP ran a 365-day-a-year core council service.

A key improvement is persuading people to stop littering and dumping in the first place. I want an effective “behaviour change” campaign to do this, alongside much better enforcement of the rules.

Add a network of cleanliness champions from the dedicated citizens of Edinburgh who report problems and help with the volunteer clean-ups, and we can make a real difference. I am pleased that colleagues across the council agreed that we now take this forward when I made these suggestions.

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I know we have huge financial pressures on the council, thanks to a lack of Scottish Government grant support. We need to find savings of £70m next year. But keeping the streets clean is a basic service. If that needs a mere two per cent of the council budget that must be a priority.

Iain Whyte is Edinburgh Council Conservative group leader

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