Council vows to get tough on the fly-tippers
Tyres, toilets – and even asbestos – dumped in streets
Trampolines, tellies, a toilet and a piano are among the rubbish fly-tipped in streets across Renfrewshire.
Dumpers are blighting communities across the region – with dangerous asbestos also ditched by the roadside.
Council chiefs have vowed to crackdown on offenders.
Carole Noble, operations director at Keep Scotland Beautiful, says communities need to take responsibility for dealing with their own mess.
She said: “Scotland has a significant litter and flytipping problem and it is at its worst level in ten years.
“That is why we are calling for national and local action, to ensure that we do not stand by and watch whilst standards continue to decline to the point of no return.
“Keep Scotland Beautiful fully appreciates that public sector spending reductions have impacted upon our hard pressed local authorities to clean up after those whose deep seated irresponsibility causes the problem. “Individual behaviour change is central to the solution.
“We all need to realise that leaving our sofas in the street is an individual failure – not to mention illegal.”
Families and private firms are suspected of flytipping across the region.
Dumpers face punishments, including fixed penalties of £200, six months behind bars and a fine up to £40,000. But council chiefs recorded 1,426 incidents last year. Officers were forced to clear 312 piles of household waste – including sofas, electrical goods and loos.
They lifted mountains of black bags 85 times and tyres on 39 occasions.
Industrial mess sparked call-outs 70 times, with demolition waste, asbestos, timber and tree cuttings left lying.
Council chiefs ploughed £2.5million into a scheme to clean-up streets last year.
The fund pays for road sweeping, litter picking and gully maintenance. Extra employees have also been drafted in to tackle reports of fly-tipping, fly-posting and similar activity.
But only five fixed penalty notices were issued last year for illegal dumping.
As previously revealed in the Express, teams have been called out almost 7,000 times in the last five years. Bosses say the worst streets in the region for fly-tipping are almost all in Paisley.
Causeyside Street, Clarence Street, Espedair Street and Braehead Road all made the top 10.
The list was rounded out by Moss Road and Candren Road – both in Linwood.
Spending on street cleaning has been cut steadily between 2012 and last year.
A local authority report last year revealed tidying dropped by 40 per cent up until 2017. Campaigners have taken to the streets to clear mess. Councillor Cathy McEwan, convener of Renfrewshire Council’s infrastructure, land and environment policy board, said: “We are committed to preventing fly-tipping and are currently reviewing our approach to investigate the causes and put in place new actions to tackle the problem.
“Whenever fly-tipping problems emerge, we act quickly, responding through prevention, education, joint working, and enforcement.
“The council has just confirmed investment of more than £2.5million over the next five years to enhance the cleanliness of our towns and villages.
“This will increase the road sweeping, gully cleaning, litter picking and the work of our Rapid Response Team.
“We want to support the fantastic efforts of individuals and communities, which has seen residents lead clean-ups in their area as part of the Team Up to Clean Up campaign.”
Across Scotland, there are 170 instances of reported fly-tipping every day – around 61,000 every year.
It costs almost £9 million to clear 26,000 tonnes of rubbish.
● To report fly- tipping, call the council on 0300 300 0300.