Going to war on chewing gum
Our streets are a disgrace, fumes Marie
21.04.2017 A politician yesterday dubbed Paisley town centre’s chewing gum problem a “disgrace”.
Councillor Marie McGurk called on Renfrewshire Council to take a leaf out the book of other areas and keep the town and other parts of Renfrewshire clean.
Tabling a motion to the last full meeting of the local authority before the next month’s elections, the SNP councillor, backed by colleague Ian Nicolson, called on the council to agrees that the condition of Paisley town centre with regard to deposits of chewing gum spat out on the streets by thoughtless individuals needed urgent action.
“This is reflective of the condition of Renfrewshire as a whole with regard to street cleanliness under this Labour administration,” her motion read.
It went on: “Council agrees that immediate action us taken to clean Renfrewshire’s town centres of chewing gum deposits and to maintain that other councils, for example Stirling, appear not only to achieve but sustain.”
Mrs McGurk told the meeting: “It’s simple: clean it.”
The councillor added that getting rid of the chewing gum deposits was a priority in the light of Paisley’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2021, and that a special machine was necessary to carry out the task.
“If you are serious about the bid, get the chewing gum machine today,” she said.
Mr Nicolson described the discarded chewing gum as “pollution” and called on a tax to be levied on its manufacturers, so that the money could be passed on to local authorities to pay for a clean up.
The meeting heard that Renfrewshire Council had previously owned a machine for cleaning up chewing gum from streets but this had come to end of its useful life.
In an amendment to the motion, however, Labour Councillor Eddie Devine, seconded by Councillor Chris Gilmour, said the council has invested in technology to deal with the problem.
He said: “Council recognises the problem of chewing gum deposits as a nationwide issue.
“It affects not only Paisley Town Centre bu other areas of Renfrewshire.
“Despite the systematic cuts to the council budget from the SNP government, council has invested in ‘eco gum’ removal technology and has embarked on a programme for the removal of discarded chewing gum from our streets.
“Phase I or this has already commenced and is focussed on Paisley town centre before being rolled out across Renfrewshire.”
The amendment was carried by 23 votes to 15.