Fringe Society asks festival-goers to take their rubbish home
Organisers of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe have urged people to take their own rubbish home from the event – as one of its biggest venue operators warned of a risk to public safety from the growing piles of garbage around the city centre.
William Burdett-coutts, whose venues include the Assembly Rooms on George Street and the Assembly Hall on The Mound, described the state of the city’s streets as “shocking” as the Fringe’s final week coincided with industrial action by refuse workers in the city.
The Ladyboys of Bangkok have been among the Fringe performers to take to the streets to tackle the rubbish left lying beside unemptied bins.
Business leaders warned the ongoing strike by council cleansing staff was damaging the city’s reputation and risked deterring visitors from returning in future.
Essential Edinburgh, which represents more than 650 hotels, venues, bars and restaurants
in the New Town, said the dispute – which has seen rubbish start to pile up since strike action began on Thursday – had had a “huge impact” on the city at its busiest time of the year.
The group, which businesses pay an annual levy for extra services, said it was looking at how to “pro-actively manage on-street public litter bins” while the dispute was ongoing.
Firms have also been brought in to keep areas run by Fringe venues and official street performance areas in the Old and New Towns as clear of rubbish.
A plea posted by the Fringe Society on social media said: “Regarding the litter in Edinburgh – we appreciate the
current situation is frustrating for residents and visitors.
“The bin strikes are Scotland-wide and we hope a resolution is found soon. In the meantime, please help by taking litter home with you.”
Mr Burdett-coutts said: “There is a stark contrast from the venues, where we are all cleaning up and everything is under control, to going in the streets and here it is obviously not and there is rubbish everywhere.
“I am concerned about areas where there are crowds of people that it is not really safe. You could very easily slide on something.
“It is not a great look for Edinburgh at a point where it has its first great showcase of the year.”