City looks at losing graffiti and flytipping clean-ups

Published on Wednesday 6 October 2010 18:12

FLYTIPPING and graffiti may no longer be tackled by the city council as it attempts to slash £90 million from its budget.

EYESORE: Graffiti could remain

Officials have confirmed that certain services will have to go in light of necessary cost-cutting over the next four years, and bosses said that to "not deal with low-level antisocial behaviour" could be an option.

If the decision was given the nod it would mean that several council employees including a number of environmental wardens and concierges - who both deal with flytipping and graffiti - would be lost.

The issue was highlighted at a recent public budget summit meeting where leaders also discussed running some services, such as street cleaning and the emptying of litter bins, on a less frequent basis.

The council pointed out there wasn't enough cash to maintain all services and said police could tackle criminal issues.

Some have questioned, however, if this is a feasible move and suggested that waiting lists for clean-ups would be lengthened, given that police resources are already stretched.

Over the past six months the city has already seen more instances of flytipping after it began charging 19.99 for large rubbish collections, something that used to be free.

Labour's Ewan Aitken, an ex-city council leader, said the cut would prove a "backwards step" and could lead to more serious issues.

He said: "Much research has found that dealing with graffiti and litter cleaning significantly reduces other instances of anti-social behaviour, so this seems like a backwards step.

"Who is going to deal with these problems? Police resources are going to be stretched too, so there's a risk these sorts of issues just won't get sorted out."

Greener Leith, an organisation which pushes for clean and healthy environments, also criticised the potential move.

Manager Alastair Tibbitt said: "Good quality green spaces deliver a range of benefits, from helping people to stay healthy to acting as a place for wildlife.

"Any service changes that harm the maintenance of our public spaces or reduce the council's ability to deal with graffiti could have costly implications for air quality, pollution and the health of local residents."

A council spokesman confirmed that the council was considering scrapping the services, but he pointed out that discussions on how to cut costs were at very early stages.

He said: "Officers are looking at possible savings based on the level of demand and will look further at the impact of the proposals. No decisions have been made at this stage."

Another spokesman added: "We have to review the range and frequency of services we deliver and target our resources where they will have most impact."