Return of council’s bulk uplift service must be a priority for the city council

BOTH in the pages of this newspaper and in my inbox as a councillor I have been horrified at the sight of rubbish strewn streets and parks amid a spike in fly- tipping across Glasgow.

From reports of a fridge freezer dumped into the river on the south side to mattresses and furniture abandoned in the east end, our neighbourhoods are experiencing a significant uptick in some of the most egregious incidences of fly- tipping we have seen in some time.

Let me be clear, there is no excuse for fly- tipping and those responsible should be held to account and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Their selfish behaviour blights communities and destroys the pride that we should all be able to feel about our local area.

According to the environmental and sustainability charity Zero Waste Scotland, there are an estimated 60,000 fly- tipping incidents across the country every year and around 26,000 tonnes of dumped items. This, combined with litter generally, costs the Scottish taxpayer over £ 50million.

With studies showing that people who see fly- tipped rubbish around them are more likely to adopt the habit themselves, it is essential that we tackle the current spike in cases quickly before these behaviours become engrained.

This is why Glasgow Conservative councillors have launched a campaign and petition to # BringBackBulkUplift, arguing that the resumption of the council’s bulk uplift service needs to be made a priority and sufficient resources allocated to ensure its safe return. Currently the council is telling Glasgow residents to store bulk items for an indefinite period and has refused to give even an indicative date for uplift services to resume. This just isn’t good enough – Glaswegians haven’t been given any discount on their council tax so why should they have to accept any deterioration in the level of service they receive?

Unfortunately, it’s not just the absence of bulk uplifts that is causing concern across the city but also the SNP’s plans – supported in the City Chambers by their Green colleagues – to introduce a charge for the service.

I have been inundated with correspondence from constituents who believe this has the potential to make the flytipping problem even worse by driving people to dispose of their waste illegally.

The SNP in Glasgow like to preach environmentalism but actions speak louder than words and anyone walking the streets of this city knows that they have allowed our physical infrastructure to decay at an alarming rate.

To make the people of Glasgow pay for their mismanagement of our cleansing services is beyond scandalous and their incompetence has the potential to compound the problem when it comes to fly- tipping.

Enough is enough – SNP neglect has turned Glasgow from the Dear Green Space into a dumping ground and their complacency and failed leadership on this issue is scandalous.

We need a clear commitment from the leader of the council that she will both instruct officials to prepare a route map to the resumption of bulk uplift services and reverse her plans to punish people for doing the right thing and disposing of their waste responsibly. Anyone who wants to support our campaign can find further details at the Glasgow Conservatives website.