The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
High hopes that bins will soon stop littering historic town’s streets
Council officials invited to meeting to hear local ideas
Campaigners hope a lid can soon be put on the problem of waste bins littering the streets of St Andrews.
Locals have grown increasingly frustrated at the number of commercial and domestic bins being left on pavements and even in parking spaces in the town and have warned the eyesores could ruin the town’s tourist reputation.
However, following talks with officers, St Andrews Labour councillor Brian Thomson has said he is confident a solution can be reached.
Mr Thomson invited representatives from the local authority to the Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council’s December meeting to hear their potential solutions.
He said: “While there has been some progress in the last few weeks, with a number of bins that had become permanent features on the pavements now having been removed, there is clearly a lot of work still to do.
“The meeting was very worthwhile and I hope it leads to a situation where bins are only out on the pavement for a very limited period to allow them to be emptied.
“Whether that requires more hardline enforcement remains to be seen, but with the assistance of BID St Andrews’ Clean and Green Team, there is a real opportunity to resolve this long-standing issue.”
Complaints were voiced at the meeting about bins being left outside HMO properties, car parking space in Market Street being used permanently for business waste containers and the smell from bins left out permanently in South Street.
Council officers said they had been working with businesses to improve the situation but there was a problem with a lack of space in the historic street layout,
Fife Council was asked to comment yesterday but it had not responded by the time of going to press.
I hope it leads to a situation where bins are only out on the pavement for a limited period