Time to face the litter truth, Leith

Published on Friday 29 February 2008 09:44

LEITH will never fulfil its ambition to become a leading tourist destination as long as its streets are filthy, it was claimed today.

A new survey found the Leith and Leith Walk wards were the dirtiest in Edinburgh, prompting calls to address the situation once and for all. Councillors and community leaders have urged the council and residents to do something about the litter problem.

Leith Walk, Easter Road and Great Junction Street are among the city's worst for discarded fast-food wrappers, bottles and cans, cigarette butts and dog fouling.

In the latest survey by Keep Scotland Beautiful, which monitored the level of litter in December, Leith scored 62 out of 100, the worst in the Capital and six per cent below the Edinburgh average.

Neighbouring Leith Walk ward scored only one more, trailing behind top scorers Almond and Corstorphine, which both scored 75. The study also found that dog muck can be found in a quarter of streets in the Leith Walk ward.

The survey suggested the cleanliness of streets in Edinburgh was improving, although it identified problems in every area with schools around the lunch hour.

Both Leith and Leith Walk were also cleaner than the last survey in September – which rated them as 48 and 52 respectively.

But Leith councillor Gordon Munro said the litter situation in the port was still "disgraceful". He said: "It is disappointing to see Leith at the bottom of the league. Citizens as well as council workers have a responsibility to keep Leith beautiful. If you can't reuse or recycle, then bin it for Leith's sake. These findings indicate a long-term problem which needs a long-term solution, not just additional dog wardens as proposed.

"If we want tourists to come to the area then we can no longer have independent organisations finding our streets the dirtiest in Edinburgh."

A report by Keep Scotland Beautiful to this week's transport infrastructure and environment committee said: "More needs to be done to bring the street cleaning up to the excellent standard that Edinburgh's residents expect."

And Graham Chapman, chairman of Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council, said it wasn't just the streets that were suffering. He said: "It is a terrible problem. The Water of Leith down at the Shore is so filthy it's embarrassing. It's all very well regenerating an area, but it's got to be kept clean."