Landemer chiefs gutted silly string is here to stay
Council rule it’s impossible to ban spray from being sold
JONATHAN GEDDES
The organisers of Rutherglen’s Landemer Day have been left disappointment after South Lanarkshire Council ruled there was no way to block silly string being sold at the annual event.
In recent years, the gala day has been blighted by youngsters who leave the Main Street covered with the spray string.
Concerns have continually been raised with South Lanarkshire Council for years over the issue. But a report to the council’s licencing committee earlier this month has found that there would be no legal basis in blocking shops from selling the products.
Landemer committee secretary Ian Duncan has previously raised concerns over the issue and is disappointed about the findings.
Commenting on the latest development he said: “It’s disappointing to hear that, because it is the one negative about the best day of the year in Rutherglen. Sadly now, it happens every year.
“Unfortunately, we [the committee] get tarred with the negative comments about the mess after it happens. But there is nothing more that we can do.
“There are so many positives about Landemer – from sports for kids to the work with local charities – so the silly string still being a problem is very frustrating.
“To tell the kids to stop spraying each other is impossible, but I really wish that they would stop spraying everything over the street and the monuments, because it makes the Royal Burgh look shabby.”
The council report stated that there was, “no legal or factual basis for the imposition of a licensing condition prohibiting the sale and/ or use of aerosol string products”.
Silly string is flexible, coloured, plastic string propelled from an aerosol can.
Council officers confirmed it would “not be lawful to impose a condition on street traders” as other local businesses would still be free to sell the product.
It would be possible to introduce a by-law banning the use of aerosol string in the area, but officers felt that this would “not attract the support of the Scottish Government or Police
Scotland due to the limited scale of the issue and the issues around enforcement”.
The chair of the licencing committee, Councillor David Shearer said that the committee should be trying to tackle the problem, however the licensing committee would not be able to take it further.
He added: “I think that we are agreed that we should do something.
“This committee cannot refer to other committees.
“As elected members, there are other avenues we can pursue.”
It’s disappointing because it [silly string] is the one negative about the best day of the year in Rutherglen