Council must fix city waste problem says former leader

THE former Glasgow leader who introduced a new commercial waste policy said the city council has to get it right.

Frank McAveety was leader of the Labour-run council in March last year when it decided to bring in a pilot scheme to remove large commercial waste bins from city streets.

He backed the pilot, stating it was the way forward for a “cleaner, greener, safer and more attractive” city centre.

The SNP now controls the council and has pressed on by recently extending the scheme. It means no trade waste containers can be left on pavements, streets or lanes outwith designated uplift windows. Commercial bins are only allowed on the street for one hour and, if the bins are not collected on time, must be returned to the premises.

But, almost two months into the new regime, businesses are complaining of pick-ups not being done and rubbish left on the streets for days at a time.

Mr McAveety said: “The council has to get this right. We want to make sure the streets are clean. There is a City Centre Management Committee involving the council and businesses. They need to get on top of it.

“The department needs to be working with the retailers and the shopkeepers and all those affected to make sure this can be beneficial to everyone. They should be able to sort out times for collection.

“If businesses are putting out rubbish at the right time then it should be picked up.”

The council has said the new system has been a great success but that any scheme will have “teething problems”.

A spokesman said it was working with all commercial waste contractors to ensure the operation works as smoothly as possible.

The aim of the new policy was to “reduce the amount of trade waste containers on the streets and improve the look and feel of the city centre”.

However, many streets have ended up with rubbish bags piling up and contents strewn across pavements.

The Evening Times yesterday showed pictures of waste from premises piled up in Hope Street, Sauchiehall Lane, Bath Lane and Byres Road.

Many readers and business owners responded to our article. One said: “In the first month of this ‘ project’ there were 12 collections of general waste over 30 days. The collection on our street was collected only once in the allocated time we were given. How are we meant to store 20 bags of rubbish in our shop?”