Perth Food and Drink Park ‘left like a dump’
Resident calls for clean-up
An unhappy Perth resident has demanded the local authority clean up piles of mess in a prominent city site.
The resident reckons a pile of rotten rubbish that has been left to fester beside a turning circle within the council’s muchvaunted Perth Food and Drink Park east of the Inveralmond Roundabout is an embarrassment to the city.
Perth and Food Park was first officially “opened” for business back in March 2014. PKC spent millions on the site setting up serviced plots to sell to potential investors looking to establish a business presence in the city as well as providing the necessary infrastructure.
But the unhappy resident reckons if the council is really serious about attracting investment to Perth it needs to act now to clear up the site and persuade Travellers - who he said have been occupiying the site for years - to move on.
The man, who stated he wished to remain anonymous when he spoke to the PA earlier this week, said he had “no problem” with people pursuing alternative lifestyles but believes the mess he blames them for creating would put off any potential investors.
The council say there is no evidence to link the rubbish to the traveller community.
The resident said: “The council need to take some responsibility and get down there and clean it up. Then they need to put in place some kind of measures to stop this happening again.”
He added: “My neighbour didn’t get their bin emptied because she put a pizza box in her bin, but this place looks like a bomb site.”
The resident added he was especially upset when he read a recent article in the PA relating to a proposed expansion of the Perth Food and Drink Park in which one councillor was quoted as describing the development as a “success”.
He said: “They have spent millions on it and it’s a dump. It’s worse than a dump.
“It’s incredible the amount of rubbish that’s down there. How can they call it a food and drink park?”
A council spokesperson said yesterday: “For a considerable time, members of the Gypsy/ Traveller community have intermittently occupied areas in the vicinity of the Food and Drink Park.
“PKC is working with the travelling community and elected members to develop a more appropriate alternative for future temporary stopping sites.
“Rubbish appearing in the vicinity cannot be attributed to any individual(s) and there is no evidence linking the Gypsy/Traveller community with the fly tipping, which will be removed.
“The council is also looking at more permanent measures to prevent fly tipping in this area, including the deployment of a mobile CCTV camera, which will assist in identifying the culprits should further fly tipping take place.”
The spokesperson added: “To help food and drink businesses, the council has built units which provide high specification equipment and facilities.
“Since completion and despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the units have been fully let to four new start companies.
“There are still available food and drink plots which are being marketed and other plots for more generic uses.
“Some of generic use plots have been sold or are being marketed although this process has slowed down due to the pandemic.
“The council is committed to provide employment and private development to support sustainable economic growth.
“It is hoped the other generic plots sited on the land adjacent to the food and drink plots will be developed for wider class four, five and six business and industrial uses to support employment.”