Hedge in Claypotts Road Being Misused as a Rubbish Bin

On Saturday lunchtime I was walking home having purchased a paper from the Coop in Claypotts Road.  This stretch of private garden ground seems to be used as an unofficial rubbish bin. 

I am sure the residents in Deepdale Place could do without this at the bottom of their garden. For those of us that walk along the street it's an unsightly mess. 

Cleaning up litter throughout Scotland costs close to £100 million every year. In Dundee that works out at £3-4 million per year. It's money I think most folk would prefer the Council to spend on schools and care for the elderly.

I have written to the helpful folk in the Environment Department to ask them to clean up this area and also requested more patrols to catch and to impose on the spot fines for those that are littering in this street. I have also written to Graham Hutton, the Head Teacher of Grove Academy, to ask that he reminds his pupils  to deposit their litter in the bins provided or to take it home.

Council and Police Should Get Tough on Litter

Click on image to enlarge

A person unknown consumed a drink and food from a fast food outlet while on Douglas Terrace earlier in the week. Many people on foot, or in their cars, find this a fine spot to have their lunch and admire the magnificent river view at the same time. No problem! The Ferry welcomes residents and visitors alike who want to enjoy their lunch and the river view.

BUT what we don't appreciate is folk who carelessly discard their rubbish on the road because they can't be bothered to use one of the litter bins or dispose of their rubbish at home.

While the Council and Police don't deserve all the blame for the sloppy habits of a minority of our residents and visitors, they can be more active using their existing powers:

a criminal offence, subject to a maximum fine of £2,500. Either the police or a local council can prosecute litterers. In addition, Fixed Penalty Notices of £50 can be issued by local council staff or the police for littering."

I have written to Councillor Craig Melville, the Convener of Environmental Services and Chief Superintendent Hamish Macpherson of Police Scotland in Dundee, to ask them to step up the action. 

Litter make our streets unsightly and diverts money from other services into more street cleaning. According to Keep Scotland Tidy, the cost of clearing litter across Scottish local authorities currently stands at £65 million per year. Let's get it sorted!

Littering in Broughty Ferry is an Expensive and Unsightly Disgrace

Wind blown litter on Claypotts Road
Click on image to enlarge

Before roadside shrubs burst into leaf and bloom, accumulated litter on our road margins is, to my mind, an unwanted eyesore.

My photo features a short stretch of Claypotts Road which is, unfortunately, typical of too many locations in Broughty Ferry just now.

Carelessly discarded cigarette cartons, drinks cans and bottles, confectionery wrappers, plastic carrier bags and redundant packaging are accumulating in wind blown locations like this.

I know I am definitely showing my age when I harp back to the good old days of cash deposits on drinks' containers and less packaging on confectionery. Kids would be paid the deposits for bottles that they had collected and then returned to a retailer. Mrs Cartmel ran the sweet shop near where I spent my childhood. Like most kids that returned 'found' empty bottles of popular carbonated drinks, I immediately turned the cash deposits I had earned into purchases of sweets.

Another abiding memory of those times was the injunction from my parents to either put ones rubbish into a bin or take it home. This was reinforced by adult relatives and friends. And by and large it was a tidier time on the litter front. 

So while the Council evidently have a role to play, its very expensive constantly clearing up after us all. I, for one, resent spending so much of our public money on cleansing when the money would be better spent in our schools and other public services. 

We all therefore have a role to play to reduce this unsightly intrusion onto our community. 

Enough said!