Man says Glasgow city council to blame for fly-tipping problems in city

A man has said Glasgow City Council are to blame for the continuous cycle of fly-tipping in the city.

Donnie McLeod, who is from Rutherglen and is a Prospective parliamentary candidate for Reform UK (East End Constituency) spoke exclusively to the Glasgow Times after noticing discarded household items and couches by Linn Cemetery in the city’s Castlemilk.

He said: “Glasgow City Council have created this problem.

“The council need to change their ways when it comes to fly-tipping if they want the problem to stop.”

For Donnie, the answer is simple – the council should make uplifts free for all, with council tax fees covering the cost.

According to Glasgow City Council’s website, the costs to uplift stand at £5 per item, £5 per large electrical item and £80 for a special item uplift.

Donnie said: “The council give you one free lift and that’s about it.

“The cost puts people off, it is so much easier to get a mate’s van and just dump the stuff on some land.

“And people that are on low to medium wages, who are working class in the city, they don’t have that money to get things removed.”

Donnie noted that the fly-tipped items near the cemetery were on farmland – meaning the dumped rubbish becomes the farmer's job to clear, not the council's.

Something, Donnie believes is another problem of the council’s fly-tipping approach.

He explained: “My first thought was that how is a tractor going to get through that?

“The local farmer had to come down to remove it - it becomes their issue, and they are responsible for removing it.

“The way I see it, is the farmers are putting food on your table. If they can’t get food to the animals or get the animals to the land because someone has been irresponsible then what happens?”

He added: “People need to hit the council where it hurts.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: "There is no excuse for fly-tipping.
"Anyone who drives to a secluded lane to dump waste knows they are doing something wrong.

"Rather than commit an act of blatant anti-social behaviour, it would have been just as easy to drive to one of our household waste recycling centres to dispose of this waste correctly.

"Glasgow's waste centres are open seven days a week and take an extensive range of unwanted items.

"Alternatively, the sofa could potentially be donated for someone else to use and there many options available for this, including the national on-line reuse tool that links with charities and other organisations in the city.

"Anyone who commits an environmental crime such as fly-tipping is liable to be prosecuted with fixed penalty notices recently increased to £500 per offence.

"In line with every other local authority in Scotland, Glasgow charges for the collection of bulky waste, which is allowed through existing environmental legislation.

"The £5 raised from each bulky item collected goes towards the operation of the service, which includes the substantial of costs for disposing of this waste appropriately with an approved processor.

"We will respond appropriately to the incidents highlighted by this member of the public."