NEW Town residents who blocked the introduction of giant wheelie bins outside their own homes are being blamed for fly-tipping on surrounding streets.
Extra rubbish collections have been introduced to clear the mountain of overflowing bin bags being left beside communal bins.
Those living in the New Town are being blamed for dumping the council-issued bin bags.
Residents in Clarence Street,
in Stockbridge, one of the worst affected, say their bins are often overflowing within hours of being emptied. They claim they have seen drivers emptying car boot-loads of full council-issued bin bags of the kind given to New Town residents.
Signs placed on the wheelie bins asking non-residents not to dump rubbish have been ripped down.
The bin bags are attracting foxes and gulls, leading to rubbish being strewn across roads and pavements, and fed-up residents have now called for a review of all rubbish collections in the area
The New Town won special dispensation when the container bins were introduced after a campaign by residents. Protesters said the big black bins would spoil the look of the New Town's streets.
Neil MacKinnon, 40, of Clarence Street, said: "It can be a complete mess. There are bags stacked high up next to the bins and there's rubbish strewn across the pavement as foxes rip open the bags. It's a real shame. It doesn't look good for the city when there's rubbish all over the streets and seagulls are swarming over it.
"Sometimes you see people driving here to take three or four sacks out of their car boot.
"At the moment, the bins probably need to be emptied twice a day to cope with all the rubbish."
Neighbour Geoffrey Tindle, 36, a surveyor, said: "They should get out and catch these people and fine them for fly-tipping.
"They didn't want the bins in their streets, so it's a bit rich to see them coming and basically dumping their problems on us."
Similar problems have been reported in other areas bordering the city centre World Heritage Site, including Tollcross and Broughton.
The problem appears to happen when New Town residents have rubbish piled in their flats and feel they can't wait for the next twice-weekly rubbish collection.
Stockbridge councillor Michael Dixon said: "It's always going to be a problem at the cusp of the heritage boundary, because some streets have bins and others don't. If people can't wait for their collections, they'll use their neighbours' bins instead.
"I've raised the issue of the overuse of bins by neighbouring residents with the council's cleansing department and, although they are collecting more frequently, the problem persists.
"Ultimately it comes down to the fact that the whole wheelie bin scheme was poorly thought out and poorly implemented."
Councillor David Guest, who represents the New Town, said part of the problem was down to council rubbish collections not always taking place on the days residents were expecting.
But he added: "The vast majority of New Town residents are opposed to black container bins and it has been made clear the World Heritage Site could be undermined by having them there."
The city council said it was looking at ways to tackle the problem. A council spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the concerns of householders in Clarence Street and we urge residents within the World Heritage Site to abide by the refuse collection arrangements designed for them and ask them not to use the bins in neighbouring streets."
The full article contains 605 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
