Edinburgh's Meadows are blighted once again by litter left by morons – Steve Cardownie

Unfortunately the scenes of discarded litter strewn about The Meadows are not new – this has been a perennial problem for some time.

Hundreds of youths partying on the Meadows at the weekend left the park covered in litter.

When I was convener of the committee which had parks and gardens in its remit, the agenda regularly featured an item on littering and fly-dumping on several sites throughout the city, including The Meadows.

Alison Johnstone, the Green MSP, was quite right when she said in yesterday’s paper that “Green spaces are such an important part of our lives. They are vital for our mental health, for wildlife and add considerable economic value too, so it is very encouraging to see so many people taking advantage of them.”

However, that so many people could not give a toss about the environment and leave their empty bottles and packaging on the ground as they leave is infuriating to say the least.

What goes through their heads to make this utterly selfish behaviour seem acceptable? They go to the park when it is in prime condition and leave it like a tip!

Their moronic behaviour beggar’s belief and should be challenged by the authorities each time it is witnessed. Fines and hours spent on clean-up operations are the least that transgressors should expect, in addition to compulsory attendance at environmental briefing sessions where, hopefully, they will learn just how important taking care of our environment is.

Too many of our parks and open spaces have been blighted by this thoughtless behaviour by what seems to be a sizeable minority of park-goers who spoil it for the rest of us.

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