DOG walkers have been leaving bags of their pets’ mess on top of a full public bin in Helensburgh’s Duchess Wood.
Photos were sent to the Advertiser this week by two readers showing of a taped-up bin in the woodland, adjacent to the Millig Street garages, with bags of dog mess piled up on top.
A notice has also been placed on the bin by the Friends of Duchess Wood volunteer group, warning passers-by that Argyll and Bute Council will not be emptying dog waste bins due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is understood that since the Advertiser raised the issue with the authority, the bin in question has been covered up.
One reader, Helensburgh resident Mike Hyde, vented his frustration when he told us: “When the bin is taped up, and the sign says that the council will no longer be emptying it, what sort of absolute b*****d would think it would be OK to just leave a bag of s**t on top of it?
“Apologies for the language, but for goodness sake, how stupid and lazy is it possible to be?”
Another correspondent, who asked not to be named, asked why the council did not empty the bins when placing the tape and notices.
They said: “It seems a bit like the service for recycled waste and glass. The council simply cancelled the service without warning or explanation and we read about it retrospectively.
“There followed a hue and cry and now the council are intending to collect both general and recycled waste this week and put both into landfill.
“With regard to the dog waste bins, the service simply stopped without any announcement and I believe some people then got in touch with the council to ask why piles of dog excrement had been allowed to build up for several weeks?
“Presumably they were told at that point the service had stopped as a result of Covid-19.”
A local volunteer group, the Friends of Duchess Wood, stepped in and made their own notices for every bin, pleading with dog owners to take their waste home and attempting to tape up the overflowing one.
READ MORE: Council revises Helensburgh bin collections as virus sees staff numbers reduced
Our source said: “Clearly it was too much for the council to empty the bins one last time, seal them and put up notices for the public advising them what was happening?
“Rather than avoiding a public health hazard the council have very effectively created one, in a highly trafficked location.
“It does beg the question as to whilst NHS staff, and homecare workers, are risking their health by working in the frontline, our own council treat the pandemic as a ‘staff holiday’.
“Was there really any meaningful risk in sending a solitary man in a van to empty these bins?
“Like the closure of Duchess Woods for months on end, the person taking these decisions never breaks cover to take responsibility.
“What happened to the simple notion of accountability?”
An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson said: “Our staff are focusing on delivering the most vital frontline services.
“Where we can, we will empty public bins, but this is not our main priority at the moment.
“However, we repeat the message we always give – if a bin is full, please take your rubbish home.
“We all have to play a part in keeping our communities free of rubbish, including dog mess.”
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