Glenrothes councillors rubbish streets report

Stock image. Photographer Ian Georgeson.

The report, issued at the recent Glenrothes area committee meeting, noted that between April 2015 and March 2016, a total of 196 sites were surveyed in the Glenrothes area, and while two – Lothian Court and Dunbeath Drive – were found to be below the required standard, the other 194 were acceptable.

Street cleaning is measued in accordance with a process known as Local Environmental Audit and Managing System (LEAMS), and comprises of three visual inspections per year – two carried out by Safer Communities officiers and one by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

It was confirmed by Jim Leaks and Kevin Jolly who provided the report that while dog dirt was included in the LEAMS process, weeds are not because they are naturally occuring.

Commenting, Councillor Fiona Grant said: “The public are not as happy as you would think they should be according to this report.

“I cannot see a reason here for the gap between what the score is and what we can actually see on our streets.”

Cllr Ross Vettraino echoed her sentiments, adding: “If an uniformed person read this report, they might think everything is fine, but the actual standard of our streets is woeful.

“Every single piece of litter is put there deliberately and we need to change our attitudes because it is absolutely the fault of the public.

“The report may read well but it’s not a reality of our streets.”

Cllr John Wincott agreed, adding: “Instead of saying to our parks department, ‘Why aren’t you cleaning our streets’, we need to ask people ‘Why are you putting litter on our streets?’.”

Currently, the full time equivalent number of employees – responsible for both street cleaning and open space maintenance – serving the Glenrothes area is 65.

Altany Craik noted: “[The parks department] is doing its best with less resources and we appreicate the work being done.

“I think we need to be a bit more realistic about it, and people need to be more responsible and not drop litter .

“Sadly, the grass might have to grow a little longer now, but if it means more money can be put into education, then I accept that. They are doing the best they can within the limits.”