Firms and residents in fury over rotting filth in street
RESIDENTS and business owners are livid at the mess being dumped on the corner of a busy Glasgow street.
Piles of rubbish have been collecting on the street for several days and locals have now had enough, with Chilli Grill on Sauchiehall Street and Liberté on North Street the closest businesses to the problem.
Ijaz Ansari, manager at Chilli Grill restaurant, said: “It has been like this for a year or two but this is the worst that it has been, it’s a disgrace.
“We are now being charged extra money because our bins are overflowing when they are picked up.”
Other bars and restaurants in the area have also had to resort to locking their bins shut to avoid having to pay extra for collection as their bins were being overfilled.
Jim McLaughlin, owner of Liberté Bar, said: “It has been an ongoing battle to keep these streets clean.
“This is a public health issue, not an environmental health one, and something must be done.
“However, unless there is some sort of legal enforcement I don’t think anything will happen.”
One concerned local claims that they had been in touch with the council, but as the bins are the the responsibility of private companies, there is nothing they can do.
The issue came to a head just days after a new pilot scheme on uplift times for commercial waste came into effect.
Having been in contact with his waste contractors William Tracey Group, Mr McLaughlin has now had to take drastic steps to stop others throwing their trash in with his and costing him extra on pick up.
He added: “We are using different coloured bin bags so we can clearly show these aren’t ours and have had to start padlocking our bins shut at night, leading to bags now piling up and food spilling onto the street.
“We have been communicating with other businesses to make sure that proper waste disposal procedures are followed. I am irate at the mess being dumped beside our bins.”
One angry customer reported seeing birds and animals tearing into the bags lying by the side of the road.
The area is popular with students and Mr Ansari believes that they could be linked to the problem.
He added: “I think it stems from the flats upstairs, they need a place where they can put their rubbish and it needs to be dealt with, it is disgusting.”
Consistent with what the business owners mentioned, a sign in the close of the adjacent tenement block instructs residents to use the bins outside, with no warning given against piling bags up on the street.
None of the landlords for the building could be contacted.
Waste Contractors William Tracey Group said: “We fully supports the City Centre Commercial Waste Pilot Project and has been working closely with Glasgow City Council and its customers to support them.
“The bin pictured is managed by a national broker and they would need to be contacted direct for further details on why the site could not be serviced. We can confirm the site was serviced earlier today.”