Litter wardens: 'The fines go nowhere near meeting costs'

Published on Wednesday 18 March 2009 09:06

IT would be nice to think that Edinburgh is a clean city. But sadly much of the evidence seen on a daily basis suggests this is not the case.

The idea of appointing litter wardens was a sound one. But three years after they first began prowling the streets looking for those discarding paper and other items indiscriminately there is little evidence that their presence is having any real effect.

Two years ago the Evening News questioned their effectiveness when it was revealed that the city's 32 litter meanies, as they were dubbed, handed out on average one fine each per week for littering and dog fouling.

Today it seems little has changed and the latest statistics show that their performance in terms of handing out fines has since dropped substantially.

No-one doubts that the task of keeping Edinburgh's streets free of litter is an arduous one. In the past two years the council has spent an additional 1.5 million on street cleaning services on top of the 10m it budgets annually for dealing with litter, graffiti and fly-posting.

But in a city with so many major public events, festivals and sporting fixtures – not to mention a lively weekend social scene – the litter just keeps being produced more quickly than it appears it can be quickly cleaned up.

The evidence is there to see most mornings in the city's night-life hot-spots such as Lothian Road, the Cowgate and the Grassmarket. And while some of the worst examples can be put down to vermin attacking roadside rubbish sacks left out for collection, sadly much of it is dropped by two-legged critters in the form of fast-food wrappings and discarded drinks containers.

For a city that relies so heavily on tourism and visitors passing on favourable impressions to others this is not a good thing. All of the city's natural beauty and attractions can easily be overshadowed by memories of rubbish-strewn streets.

It is not a new problem. In 2007 Audit Scotland year scored the council worst of any of Scotland's 32 local authorities in street cleanliness. And although the council would point to subsequent studies showing that improvements have been made the question has to be asked is real, tangible progress being made?

On today's evidence the city's litter wardens appear to be making little contribution. Their services cost the city in the region of 600,000 a year. Simple arithmetic seems to suggest in cash terms the number of fines handed out go nowhere near meeting their operational costs

A change in public attitudes is doubtless required to address the wider problem but so are better deterrents to littering and it is surely time to question whether litter wardens are the answer.