Edinburgh community besieged by flytipping as former…

Edinburgh community besieged by flytipping as former councillor offers solutions

A former independent councillor has hit out at the constant flytipping and dumping of goods on the streets of the Gorgie community.

Ashley Graczyk, founded the Keep Gorgie Clean campaign in 2020 to address the problem of dumping and flytipping. This weekend she has condemned waste being strewn across residential communities.

She says that the Gorgie and Dalry community has the “biggest problem” with this form of antisocial behaviour in the capital. She has added that there are simple solutions that Edinburgh City Council could deploy in order to get a handle on the situation.

In images shared by the Gorgie Collective, a sofa, refrigerator, shelves and a host of debris can be seen lying off of Gorgie Road.

On the issue Ashley said: "Figures I obtained in 2020 clearly show that Gorgie-Dalry has the biggest problem with waste and flytipping in the whole city, nearly double the instances than the next worst impacted area. I lead the Keep Gorgie Clean campaign, and our campaign alone has reported 22 instances of waste and flytipping as part of our weekly walkabout in the first half of 2022, with many more reported by residents directly.

“This is overwhelming for local residents and Edinburgh Council urgently needs to direct resources to our area to address the issue. There are three simple solutions that could solve this problem.

“Firstly, we need free uplift days, perhaps on a monthly basis. Gorgie residents largely don't have cars to transport bulky items to the dump, and many people cannot afford the uplift fee, especially for multiple items. Scheduling monthly bulk uplift days would also promote recycling, as people would know the date, and be able to take what they want before items are uplifted.

“Secondly, we need enforcement action against flytippers. Many of the worst instances are trade waste dumped by white vans, but how many fines has Edinburgh Council issued to discourage this shameless behaviour?

“Finally, we need regular street cleaning patrols with salaried staff routinely reporting fly-tipping hotspots rather than residents having to do this as some kind of depressing hobby.”

Local Labour councillor, Ross McKenzie, believes that the introduction of “bin hubs” in October will have a positive impact on street cleanliness in the area. He said: "I met with the head of neighbourhood and environmental services in Gorgie this week to discuss how we can improve street cleanliness and waste disposal in the area.

“We focused on Wardlaw Place, Wardlaw Street and Newton Street as these streets have specific issues with fly-tipping and overflowing bins. I'm confident that the introduction of 'bin hubs', scheduled for October, will have a positive impact.

“This will see an increase in the frequency of collection and a more rational spread of bins along the streets, away from the corner of Gorgie Road where the worst problems arise. In the meantime, council officers have agreed to ramp up enforcement on fly-tipping.