Outcry over 'support' for wheelie bins

Published on Friday 13 August 2004 12:01

• Majority back Dean and Marchmont bins

• One in three think bins are unsightly

• Survey’s 6000 cost attacked

A FRESH row over the introduction of giant wheelie bins in Edinburgh erupted today after city leaders claimed the initiative had received "overwhelming" backing in the areas where they faced most opposition.

Plans to put the bins in Dean and Marchmont sparked angry protests outside the City Chambers last summer.

But the long-running campaign, during which a protester threatened to head-butt a top council official, failed to stop the bins being placed in the two areas as part of a city-wide roll-out.

Opinion has since been divided, with supporters flooding a website set up by protesters, and campaigners vowing to press for a change of heart from the council.

However, the council today published figures which officials said proved people had come around to the scheme, with more than three-quarters saying the streets in Dean and Marchmont were cleaner since the bins’ introduction.

But the independent research also showed that one in three people still thought they were unsightly, and a similar number said they were usually already full when they tried to use them.

The council commissioned Queen Margaret University College to conduct the research into the bins, including their ease of use, whether they had made a difference to street cleanliness, and the problem of mess caused by the use of black bin bags.

Dean and Marchmont were chosen for the research because that was where the council faced most opposition last year.

The postal survey, conducted during June, generated 637 responses from Dean and 785 from Marchmont.

Of those, 38 per cent thought the bins’ visual impact was either acceptable or very acceptable, but the same number said they looked either "not very acceptable" or "not at all acceptable".

When asked about how easy the containers were to use, 86 per cent of respondents said they were either "very easy" or "quite easy", and 78 per cent said they hadn’t had any problems using them.

Residents also said the programme had led to cleaner streets, with 78 per cent of respondents saying they were "much cleaner" or "a bit cleaner". Only three per cent of people said the streets were either dirtier or much dirtier.

City environment leader Bob Cairns said: "These results show that the vast majority of residents in Marchmont and Dean who responded to the survey feel that the introduction of containers, which they find easy and convenient to use, has resulted in cleaner streets, although opinion is divided on their visual impact. I’m not surprised by these generally positive findings that while there might be some initial reservations expressed by residents, once the containers are in place the reaction to them is overwhelmingly favourable."

He said comments from residents would be examined to identify any problems and look at how the programme could be improved.

However, Marchmont councillor Marilyne MacLaren said: "The council is trying to spin the results of this survey to suit its own agenda. But I can assure them that all is not rosy in container-land where it is certainly far from realistic to say that people are supportive of these bins, which have caused misery for a lot of people, especially if they have them right outside their homes. I’ve been inundated with complaints about them."

Iain Forbes, of Arden Street, Marchmont, said: "Opinion on the bins is still very much divided. There is still a lot of rubbish lying around in the street, especially when the bins are full, and the council has failed to provide enough recycling facilities."

Dean councillor Tom Ponton said he accepted that the bins had led to some improvements in street cleanliness, but condemned the council for spending 6000 on the survey.

"I have to say that although these bins are unsightly there is no doubt there is much less rubbish lying around in the street.

"But I’m angry that these areas have been singled out for the survey and we had no notification that the council was going to spend money on this research."