Protesters win as wheelie plan binned in parts of New Town

Published on Tuesday 17 May 2005 12:13

RESIDENTS in some of Edinburgh’s most prestigious streets have won their battle against the introduction of giant wheelie bins.

Several of the New Town’s most architecturally-important streets are to be exempted from the city council’s "containerisation" policy following massive opposition.

But dozens of streets elsewhere in the World Heritage Site are earmarked for wheelie bins, while the council is to conduct a major review of others.

City environment leaders today unveiled plans to begin rolling out communal and individual household wheelie bins within months following a controversial pilot project last year.

Community leaders across the Old and New towns, as well as below Calton Hill, had opposed last year’s trial.

The Canongate, St Mary’s Street, Cranston Street, Forth Street, Hart Street, Regent Terrace, Heriot Row, Fettes Row, Dundas Street and Howe Street were among those to take part in the 16-week trial, at the end of which black bin bag collections resumed.

Council officials have strongly recommended against the complete containerisation of the World Heritage Site amid fears wheelie bins would ruin the look of the area.

Fettes Row, Cumberland Street, Great King Street, Northumberland Street, St Vincent Street, Howe Street, Dundas Street and Heriot Row have won a reprieve.

Several other key city streets in the World Heritage Site, including St Mary’s Street, Forth Street, Royal Terrace, Carlton Terrace and Regent Terrace will also be protected from containerisation.

Among those earmarked to get communal bins in the next few months are Infirmary Street, Niddry Street, Blackfriars Street, St John Street, Hill Place and Drummond Street.

Streets where households are expected to receive individual wheelie bins include the back lanes off Northumberland Street and Cumberland Street, Ann Street, Circus Lane, Dean Park Crescent, Ravelston Terrace, Market Street, Charlotte Square, Dublin Street Lane and Gloucester Lane. The individual bins are meant to be stored off-street and put out for collection.

An independent study conducted by Queen Margaret University College for the council found that "by and large residents in the trial areas had been swayed by the convenience of the system".

City environment leader Bob Cairns said: "The results of the survey show widespread public support for containers and there’s no doubt these changes will improve cleanliness throughout the World Heritage Site."