Concerns expressed about new Glasgow bin hubs taking away residential parking

GMB convenor Chris Mitchell is worried that the new hubs which are being trialled in Pollokshields and Haghill could take away parking bays which cleansing workers also use when carrying out their duties.

Glasgow City Council has confirmed that Pollokshields, Haghill and a small part of Finnieston have been chosen to participate in the pilot as they already have existing high levels of on-street bins.

There are often health and safety concerns for staff at a large number of these properties and the pilot has given the council the opportunity to look at how they improve their collection service.

The local authority says, if the trial is successful, the working environment will improve significantly but the GMB still has its concerns over the scheme.

Chris Mitchell said: “The bin hubs which have been placed on the streets of Pollokshields have taken away a number of parking bays.

“We are into the second phase now of this new policy where it hits Haghill in the East End of Glasgow on October 23.

“It now looks like everyone in Haghill is going to have a bin hub placed outside their window but it also means these bins will take away our parking bays.

“We want to know if the residents of Haghill have been made aware that the parking has been taken away from them as this could have a detrimental effect on them and where they are going to park.”

The bin hub pilot will see more frequent collections, provide a wider range of recycling options and also allow residents to use their back courts for purposes other than storing their bins.

Where general waste bins are currently removed every eight days and recycling bins are emptied every 16 days, the new arrangements for the hubs will see general waste removed every four days and all recycling taken away every eight days.

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “The cleansing workforce has raised working conditions over time and by not having to lift tens of thousands of bins through back courts every week we believe that, if the on-street trials are successful, their work environment will improve considerably.

“We have already given reassurance to the workforce and the unions that no-one will be made redundant because of the on-street bin pilots.

“It has also been widely reported that the bin hubs take up just 1.5 parking spaces and to date we have not had any major concerns from residents in the initial phase and this will be reviewed as part of the pilots.

“We will continue to engage with staff and the local community to assess the impact of the hubs on improving recycling and the working conditions of our staff.”