Four days to make Leith shipshape

Published on Monday 19 May 2003 01:00

PORT chiefs today faced demands to clean up Leith Docks ahead of the International Festival of the Sea this weekend.

Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to descend on Leith for the marine festival, which is being held for the first time in Scotland.

But Leith watchdogs today branded rubbish littering the dock area a "disgrace" and called for an urgent clean-up before the Festival of the Sea begins on Friday.

City chiefs today pledged to investigate the state of the docks.

Cron Mackay, president of the Leith Civic Trust, said: "There is a lot of rubbish lying around. It is a distinct shame.

"There is an awful lack of general maintenance and the area is in need of a clean-up. There are holes in the roads and some of the pavements are downright dangerous."

Mr Mackay claimed locals would not be surprised to see the poor state of the Leith Docks because they were used to it.

He said: "People have come to accept a low standard. But it is a shame for the visitors."

He added that festival organisers could spruce up the area all they liked, but the core problems such as a lack of general maintenance and neglect would remain.

Mr Mackay instead called for a Leith-version of the Edinburgh City Centre Management team to oversee the area.

The four-day festival is expected to draw large numbers of visitors to Leith to see the harbour packed with more than 200 international vessels including tall ships and Viking ships.

Stages will host everything from live music and street theatre to cookery demonstrations and art exhibitions. But local activist Ronnie Guild said today visitors were in for a rude shock if the area was not cleaned up.

"There are rubbish tips everywhere. There are old fridges there. Everything is unkempt and grotty. There is graffiti. If you invite people to your backyard, then you must clean it up."

Mr Guild, who lives in Inverleith, warned visitors would be horrified to see the litter scattered around the modest cruise liner terminal.

"The area needs a big clean-up. The Festival of the Sea is a splendid idea, but it needs to be staged in an area worthy of its status. It is a disgrace," he added.

Local councillor Steve Cardownie, the city’s events tsar, said he would investigate. "I will bring this to the attention of the relevant council staff. I will ask the cleansing staff to inspect the area," he added.

"A lot of the land is private and I will be in touch with Forth Ports. It is a working dock site and there is a lot of work going on down there."

And he admitted: "Some people have done things they shouldn’t have."

Mike Richmond, managing director of the International Festival of the Sea, said: "There is a cleaning regime in partnership with Forth Ports which will commence today. We will try and make it as pristine as possible."

No-one from Forth Ports was available for comment today.

In February, it was announced that tonnes of rubbish piling up in Leith docks was to be cleared after the council and port bosses resolved a long-running wrangle over who was responsible for the eyesore.

The agreement, which followed mounting anger from businesses and community chiefs at The Shore in Leith, will see the two share responsibility for clearing the mess.

The peace deal followed an 18-month stand-off between Forth Ports and the council over who should clear rubbish gathered at the mouth of the Water of Leith.

In previous years, the parties had worked together to remove the tonnes of domestic and industrial waste dumped in the river. But the gentlemen’s agreement broke down towards the end of 2001.