GIANT wheelie bins will roll into the Capital’s most historic streets within weeks after the Scottish Executive gave the go-ahead to a controversial trial.
Ministers have backed council plans to pilot the containers for 16 weeks in both the New Town and the Old Town despite more than 100 objections.
Community groups claim there is "universal opposition" to the prospect of black bin bags being replac
ed by the bins, which have already been introduced in tenement areas elsewhere in the city.
Areas set for the bins in the World Heritage Site include the Canongate, St Mary’s Street, Forth Street, Hart Street, Regent Terrace, Heriot Row, Fettes Row and Howe Street.
The council, which approved the plans in principle last month, needed ministerial approval to go-ahead with the project, which it now hopes to get underway by the end of April.
It has won the support of the Executive after pledging to conduct independent environmental impact studies both during and after the trial to examine the bins’ effect on street cleanliness, rubbish collection and the historic environment.
Queen Margaret University College and Keep Scotland Beautiful have been commissioned to conduct separate research projects, while the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust will carry out its own photographic survey throughout the trials.
The council has also pledged to stage exhibitions before the trial gets underway to alert residents that the bins are on their way.
Workshops will be held with residents and community groups inside and outside the trial area to gather views.
The council was forced to delay plans for the trial last year after the threat of a legal action to block the move emerged because the authority had not sought planning permission.
Edinburgh’s environment leader Bob Cairns said: "While this trial is on-going we will consult fully with residents in the World Heritage Site. These consultations will focus not only on the impact of the containers for domestic waste presentation and general street cleanliness, but also any impact they may have on the historic townscape.
"We believe that residents will notice a considerable improvement."
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: "Ministers have now given approval for the trial but if the council wants to continue with the project after the 16-week period it will have to come back to the ministers for approval with the results of the environmental impact assessments."
Ian Hall, chairman of the Great King Street Association, said: "It doesn’t surprise me to hear that the Scottish Executive has given the trial the go-ahead, but it’s very disappointing.
"At the end of the day after all the evidence has been decided the Executive will realise that these things are just absolutely ghastly."
Alan Welsh, chairman of the New Town, Broughton and Pilrig Community Council, said: "All the groups involved in this are agreed that these bins are not appropriate for the World Heritage Site.
"It’s unacceptable to have huge skips used for rubbish collection in front of listed buildings. There’s universal opposition to them."
Historic Scotland is among the leading critics of the "huge industrial containers" and the agency warns that they will ruin the look of some of the Capital’s most prestigious streets.
