What Can We Do About the State of our Lanes?

By Jack Howse Photos by Michael Paley

We hosted a community conversation in our newsroom on the hot topic of fly-tipping and rubbish in our lanes and back courts. Lots of people shared similar experiences including waking up to find a landlord had emptied an entire flat into the street, logging instances of fly-tipping with the council and receiving no response, bins not being emptied for weeks, or homeowners being billed for removing other people’s bulky waste. It was clear that this was a community-wide issue, with many feeling frustrated at the council’s actions

When we asked Glasgow City council about the need to provide better services to deal, they said:

“Glasgow City Council continues to provide a free domestic pest control service. If there are issues with waste on public property then these should be reported to us so action can be taken. We continue to meet our obligation to remove fly-tipping in communities across the city, including Govanhill.

“Govanhill continues to receive additional cleansing resources. We have a rapid response team operating in the area each day to deal with fly-tipping and other environmental issues. Govanhill also receives regular street cleansing services and has a dedicated neighbourhood liaison officer to help address a range of environmental issues.”

Several attendees had formed residents groups or started a WhatApp chat for their close to try to make a difference. It was inspiring to hear from people who organised community clean-ups, got gates installed, or created tranquil spaces in shared courts. But not everyone had this experience.

There are 931 privately owned lanes in Glasgow. This means the council has no obligation to carry out repairs, maintenance or street cleansing. Instead they offer online resources including a ‘Private Lane Toolkit’ which provides suggestions on things like forming a residents group, removing foliage and bin collections.

They also offer a fund which is available to constituted residents groups in order to make improvements. However, In Govanhill, in any given block, homes are owned by a mix of social housing, owner-occupier and privately-rented flats, with a high tenancy turnover rate. Most people said they do not have the time or energy needed to make this happen. What's more, many did not think it fair that a handful of motivated residents should have to clean up the entire flat clearances of irresponsible home-owners.

In response, to this, a representative of Glasgow City Council told Greater Govanhill:

“This is a long standing issue with communally-owned private property. We can certainly sympathise with those who seek to deal with issues on their property while others do not contribute time and effort. However, those who are picking up on issues are discharging their responsibility for the maintenance of their property. We have found that properly constituted groups can help to sustain a more structured response to maintenance issues, make it easier to engage with professional factoring services and also help to attract additional funding.”

The Kingarth Lane Community Group did get constituted and received funding to buy gates to prevent fly tipping in their lane, but were not granted permission to install the gates on the grounds that the look of the gates was incongruous with the street scene and because through it would impact connectivity in the area. They are now appealing the decision.

In response to the accusation that the council was failing the people of Govanhill its duties to ‘keep the streets clean’, ‘maintain a high standard of public health’, and ‘maintain a cleaner, safer city’, we were told:

“A substantial effort has been made to improve the Govanhill area over a number of years. The multi-million pound Acquisition and Repairs programme has transformed how property in the area is managed and that has helped to address many of the environmental issues in Govanhill. The Enhanced Enforcement Area…has also played a significant role in improving housing standards in the area…

“The area has a dedicated neighbourhood liaison officer and as well as the Govanhill Hub.. Govanhill has also been the focus of significant levels of engagement with local businesses to ensure appropriate waste management contracts are in place…” During the community conversation we discussed possible solutions to the problem. Suggestions included: a community swap shop for unwanted goods currently left on the streets; a free mobile skip, and regular bulk uplift provided on set days; stronger penalties for fly-tipping that are better enforced; community awards for businesses who make a difference in this area; underground bin storage; investing in waste compactors.

Something that several people expressed an interest in was forming a coalition of local residents, businesses, landlords, factors and community organisations – to develop a forum for conversation and a campaign to bring about real change.

We want to hear from you. Have you got a problem with our lane or back court? Do you have ideas for what could be done to fix it? Tell us your thoughts by filling out this form: bit.ly/GovanhillLanes