Environmental gripes decline but ditched vehicles a nuisance

Safer Communities Team notes sharp fall in number of complaints

The number of environmental complaints received across central Fife appears to be falling, although councillors say they must guard against complacency.

New reports covering the period April to September 2017 for both Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes have revealed a sharp fall in the number of complaints received by Fife’s Safer Communities Team.

Abandoned vehicles, dirty gardens, dog fouling, illegal dumping and littering have long blighted neighbourhoods across the region but the latest statistics for Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes indicate a downward trend.

A total of 537 complaints were received in the first half of 2017-18 for Kirkcaldy, compared to 879 during the previous six months, while Glenrothes councillors heard yesterday there were 476 complaints in the town between April and September compared to 542.

Consequently the number of fines issued also fell, from 31 to 17 in Kirkcaldy and from 14 to just six in Glenrothes.

Kirkcaldy area committee convener Councillor Neil Crooks welcomed the figures for his area, but highlighted the particularly high number of abandoned vehicles – 136 – as one area in need of improvement.

He said: “It’s particularly galling when they’ve been signed, either by the police or Fife Council.

“I know of one vehicle in the multistorey car park that’s been there for more than a year now so that should be a lot of money the council has coming to it if and when we find the owner.”

Conservative councillor Richard Watt underlined another issue in removing abandoned vehicles from the streets in that the police, Fife Council and the DVLA all had different roles to play.

“There is a real lack of clarity as to what agency deals with what and then there’s real difficulty with the timescales involved,” he said.

Paul Coleman, lead officer for Safer Communities, said procedures were being looked at across the board to try and get a greater handle on the problem from the council’s perspective.

“I can understand the frustration but unfortunately there are occasions where there is not a lot we can do,” he said.

“If we can get it moved then we will get it lifted.”

Illegal dumping remained the biggest problem out of the five types of complaints in both towns, with Kirkcaldy seeing its figure fall from 379 to 229 and Glenrothes’ number drop from 280 to 273.

However, just four fines were handed out in Kirkcaldy for illegal dumping between April and September, with just one in the Glenrothes area.

There is a real lack of clarity as to what agency deals with what and then there’s real difficulty with the timescales involved. COUNCILLOR RICHARD WATT