Influential New Town interests – including those representing Drummond Place, Northumberland Street and Great King Street – met in City Chambers on Tuesday 27 July to discuss their response to Council plans for improving waste collection in the Edinburgh World Heritage Site.
They first acknowledged problems this year with spilt refuse due to pests taking advantage of later collection times during industrial action by City of Edinburgh staff. (No blame was attached to feckless residents presenting waste at the wrong times.)
Second, they reassured each other that even though wheelie-bin trials are very likely in the near future, full-scale containerisation in the New Town is by no means a given. As reported in Spurtle (Issue 184), a range of solutions tailored to individual localities is being considered. They recalled past assertions that containerisation would undermne the City's commitment to UNESCO.
Third, they welcomed outline food-waste recycling proposals (subject to seeing the details), and recognised that in any case such measures are scheduled in Scottish Government policy for national implementation by 2013. There is a hope in some New Town quarters that presentation of food waste in secure bins will sufficiently deter pests and reduce spilt waste to make the introduction of wheelie-bins altogether unnecessary.
Finally, they took comfort from the suggestion that revised Planning legislation would make it even more difficult to impose wheelie-bins than it was in 2004, the last time New Town residents sent the Council home to think again.
See Issue 185 (published on 1 August, in print and online) for further details and comment.
[Photo courtesy of everystockphoto.com.]
