Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Staffing shortages hit bin collections in city
BIN collections in some areas of Dundee have been temporarily stopped as the council grapples with staffing shortages.
West End councillor Fraser Macpherson says he has been inundated with complaints from constituents about overflowing and un-serviced Eurobins in recent weeks.
This incudes one resident in the Tait’s Lane area, who was told by the council’s customer services team that paper and Eurobin collection had been “temporarily stood down”. This, they said, was “due to staffing and resource issues”.
Earlier this week, similar concerns were raised by another local, Brian Wallace. The personal trainer and kickboxing coach said overflowing bins on Daniel Street in the West End were attracting dozens of gulls – leaving young children scared.
Dundee City Council has now confirmed there has been “disruption” to waste collections.
However, they did not say how long this would last or what areas would be impacted.
A spokesperson said: “Due to operational reasons there has been some disruption to waste and recycling collections.
“Collections have had to be re-prioritised, and any outstanding collections will be caught up as soon as possible.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Mr Macpherson said the blame lies with the lack of resources.
He said: “Let’s be clear that the environment staff are excellent and hard-working – be they on street cleaning, parks maintenance, bin collection or the other environment responsibilities.
“I and my group colleagues cannot express enough our gratitude to the staff for the sterling efforts they make week in week out.
“The real issue here is years of mismanagement and under-resourcing.”
Earlier this year, council leader John Alexander announced an additional £200,000 had been earmarked for improving cleanliness in Dundee.
His pledge came after a survey found more than half of respondents felt the cleanliness of the city’s High Street was “poor” or “very poor”.