West Lothian town's scruffy gardens blasted by…

West Lothian town's scruffy gardens blasted by councillor over lack of improvement

After a long hot summer Bathgate really is blooming - but not in a prize-winning way, according to councillors.

After calling for a crackdown on tenants who ignore maintaining their gardens and hedges - something he branded society de-evolving- Bathgate’s Local Area Committee chair Harry Cartmill was not happy with the results over the summer.

The Labour councillor, and his fellow long serving SNP colleague, Willie Boyle both complained about the lack of progress in dealing with scruffy gardens around the town, and the tenants who blight their neighbourhoods by refusing to maintain their patch.

Speaking at the first meeting of the committee after the summer holidays Councillor Cartmill asked housing manager Graeme McKee for an update on the numbers of letters issued to tenants regarding unkempt gardens.

Councillor Cartmill said: “I don’t want to sound negative but I don’t see an improvement. I don’t see any more gardens getting tidied up. In fact I’d go as far as to say it’s getting worse.

“I just wonder how many letters were issued to tenants as per the instruction at this last meeting and how many tenants were told they’d have to tidy up their gardens and further, that how many tenants had their gardens tidied up and were charged - I don’t mean charged by the police, I mean charged as in a bill coming to them from the council for the work that was done?”

He added: "You might tell me that there are areas that are much better and I’d be delighted to hear that, but certainly the areas I have been in post-election, I have been in most of the town at some point, I see no improvement whatsoever.”

Mr McKee said: “I don’t have that information now but it’s certainly something I can get back to you with. As regards to the gardens, as I said at our last meeting our community space officers are back out and they are doing the checks. Tenants do get their opportunity to do their gardens for themselves. They [community space teams] are definitely back out and they are picking it up and it will be fed through to us.

Councillor Cartmill said : “If you are onto it, then I’m glad to hear it. I don’t see any evidence.” He added that some areas he had seen “ were an absolute disgrace.”

Councillor Boyle followed up by commenting on the state of overgrown hedges around town and said: "There are serious issues when it's affecting the amenity of people. It’s difficult.”

He pointed out that the council had cut back on cutting its own grass areas and hedges because of budget cutbacks and suggested: “It’s not an easy argument, but it's got to the stage where there’s so many gardens let go that something needs to be looked at.”