Pest control callouts in North Lanarkshire are to remain free for the next year, and the area’s cemeteries are to be upgraded with improved paths and access under environmental plans contained in the authority’s budget.
Councillors last summer unanimously agreed to waive North Lanarkshire’s £49.15 cost for requests to deal with rat and mouse sightings after reports of vermin rose by 42 per cent during last year.
The cost was originally due to be suspended for 12 months until June 30, but this has now been extended until March 31, 2023.
Council leader Jim Logue told Lanarkshire Live: “The feedback is that there’s still a lot of concern and complaints about this issue – it was difficult during the pandemic and it was felt we should continue that.”
Fees were first suspended in last July after reports of vermin rose by 42 per cent to 2132 during 2020-2021 compared to the previous 12 months, with the figure having steadily increased during the five years in which costs had been in place.
Members were told then that the issue was “not unique to North Lanarkshire [and has] been a problem throughout Scotland during the pandemic”; and six months of action since has been carried out in identified “hotspots” at Kirkwood and Kirkshaws in Coatbridge, the Wishaw areas of Craigneuk and Crindledyke/West Crindledyke, plus Moodiesburn, Carfin/Newarthill and Holytown.
Fees still remain in place for reports of other pests, such as wasps and ants, “which are of a non-public health significance”; but councillors were told in 2021 that in relation to rat and mouse sightings, “a temporary suspension of charging would remove any financial barrier that may stop people seeking out professional treatment to address any infestation”.
Continuing the suspension of charges is part of the Labour adminstration’s £1 million planned spending on the Recover NL environmental programme, which also includes “community led clean-ups [and] action on fly tipping”.
All three political groups had proposed similar action; with the SNP having proposed an additional £500,000 investment and including a further one-off cut of private open spaces, after the authority stopped maintaining 1800 privately-owned areas across the authority last year leading to complaints and a petition about their unkempt appearance.
Meanwhile, cemeteries in North Lanarkshire are also to benefit from environmental improvements including providing tarmac footpaths throughout, as part of an overall investment of £1.5m in accessibility and active travel.
Burial charges will increase by £34 from April, to the new fee of £2040, as part of “advance actions” taken to balance an original £19m shortfall in balancing the council’s £887m budget.
Councillor Logue said: “Families want to see cemeteries protected and we’ve been looking at how to improve and protect them – we want there to be proper and suitable pathways for people, and we’ve listened to people’s views.”
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