Councillor in plea to roll outgumtax
A DRUMCHAPEL councillor has called on the Scottish Government to introduce a tax on chewing gum in a bid to clean up the city.
Cllr Paul Carey has told of his outrage at the “state” of pavements across Glasgow which have been littered with discarded gum.
The additional income provied by the tax should then be passed on council’s like Glasgow City to be used to cover the cost of cleaning the gum from the streets, the Labour politician says.
He told the Evening Times: “I understand that the pavements throughout the city are covered in chewing gum and it’s an absolute disgrace.
“I believe we should continue to educate people with the possibility of requesting a tax on chewing gum and then that money could go directly to the local authorities to assist them in clearing up our pavements.
“I myself often use public transport and I recently sat on a bus and when I got up there was a piece of chewing gum stuck to my duffel coat. It was a nightmare to get off and it still leaves a mark.”
It’s not the first radical plan Cllr Carey has developed when it comes chewing gum.
We previously reported the councillor’s calls for education on the disposing of gum outside and he even put forward a controversial proposal to ban the product – one that was immediately determined to be difficult to impose and even harder to police.
But now the councillor says the situation has become so irritating for residents, he’s calling on the government for change.
He said: “When I go through certain parts of the city and I see the pavement covered in chewing gum, it makes me believe that now is the time to look at the possibility of putting a tax on chewing gum and I am calling on the Scottish government to consider this proposal in giving money directly from the taxes to the local authorities to assist in cleaning up this mess.”
Zero Waste Scotland has created the Litter Knowledge Network, alongside its partners, to deal with issues like this.
A spokeswoman for the organisation said: “Dealing with litter and flytipping costs over a million pounds a week in Scotland – and that’s money councils could better spend on other priority services.”
The Scottish Government recently committed to establishing an expert group to look at ideas for environmental charges and other behaviour changing measures in order to combat the issue.
It did not respond to requests for comment on the tax as the Evening Times went to press.