Bin ill thought out hub plans
Dear Madam,
The City of Edinburgh Council is to place hubs of communal waste bins throughout the heritage streets of the New Town. These hubs will replace all the current waste collection schemes, including the gull-proof bags (GPB) and the communal landfill bins, along with red and blue recycling boxes.
Each hub comprising 6 or 7 bins, will be located within 50 metres of homes, which means there will be a large number of them. Elsewhere in Edinburgh, communal bins are regularly abused, trade waste is dumped in and around them, they are emptied carelessly and many get damaged and not repaired, and they are subject to graffiti tagging.
The council should be ashamed. This is not what I would expect to see in the capital city of a first-world nation. I am appalled that the council believes this type of waste management scheme is appropriate for any street in the city, let alone the World Heritage, Georgian,
New Town streets. What would visitors think when they come to see this iconic architecture and have to put up with the sight of council refuse dumps cluttering the 200 year-old cobbled streets?
The council assert that the bin hubs will increase recycling, but Freedom of Information responses do not provide the evidence to support their arguments.
The council abandoned the current schemes, without planning permission, with no consultation with residents or heritage organisations, and without undertaking a transparent environmental and social impact assessment. In my view, the council members have acted beyond any reasonable mandate and unilaterally selected a scheme based purely on cost - in other words, the lowest cost solution to provide basic services regardless of the views of stakeholders. Indeed, I have confirmation from one councillor that cost was the primary driver.
I am deeply concerned that degrading the beauty of the New Town, will further relegate Edinburgh to a city with a reputation for scruffy, squalid streets, blighted by ugly bins, often broken and overflowing, and surrounded with trade waste and dumped household items. The name ‘Auld Reekie’ is likely to be highly apt once again.
The New Town and Broughton Community Council is running a campaign to stop the bin hubs and save the GPB scheme, which has worked well for several years. For those of us who are proud of our city, and do not want to see it further deteriorate due to irresponsible actions by a council that does not consult or listen to its customers, I encourage others sharing my concern to visit their website. www.ntbcc.org.uk/bin-action/ Simon Price Edinburgh EH3