COUNCIL chiefs are being urged to do more to keep Renfrewshire looking spick and span amid complaints over the amount of rubbish left piling up on streets.
Figures from the most recent Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) report show that Renfrewshire Council spent £5,974 per 1,000 residents on street cleaning in 2019/20 – the lowest of any local authority in Scotland.
There are concerns that too much emphasis is being placed on the council’s Team Up to Clean Up campaign, which encourages members of the public to take part in litter-picking.
Community leaders are now calling on council chiefs to make street cleaning a higher priority.
Iain McMillan, secretary of Johnstone Community Council, told The Gazette: “We get inundated with complaints about rubbish lying about.
“It’s almost become normal to have rubbish like coffee cups and juice cans lying about, which is pretty sad to say.
“I wouldn’t entirely blame the council, as obviously people are a big factor in throwing litter on the ground.
“I know they’ve put a lot of emphasis on volunteers picking up litter and it’s great that people are taking an interest in their community but it’s not a long-term answer.”
A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: "As a key priority for the council, we have made a significant investment in street cleaning in recent years, including £2.5million in our hugely successful Team Up to Clean Up campaign to support enhanced road sweeping and litter picking.
"Our investment has seen Renfrewshire’s street cleanliness ranking move from 31st in Scotland in 2013/14 to 13th in 2020/21 in the latest LEAMS report from national environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful – with our score significantly higher than the Scottish average.
"The LGBF figures are more than a year out-of-date and we are confident that our position within their next report will have improved thanks to our investment.
"Our StreetScene team do a fantastic job clearing litter, removing fly tipping, emptying public bins and a range of other activity that keeps our streets clean and welcoming for residents and visitors and have continued to do despite the considerable pandemic-related disruption of the past 18 months.
"Those efforts have inspired a new sense of civic pride in Renfrewshire and we now support a huge number of volunteers who work with us to improve our local environment and create cleaner, safer communities."
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