A survey of bins in Helensburgh is being planned in an attempt to control litter and cure problems caused by seagulls.
Last summer Argyll and Bute councillors heard the town was becoming ‘pretty overwhelmed’ with rubbish on busy days, with dedicated recycling bins requested.
And this week the town’s community council said it was looking into the issue, together with Plastic Free Helensburgh.
A report to the Helensburgh and Lomond community planning group’s meeting on Thursday said a survey to check the ‘placement and efficient function of litter bins’ was their next step.
“Litter is a continuing problem in the town and the population of gulls exacerbates the issue,” it adds.
“Litter also creates a negative impression on visitors throughout the year, but particularly during the summer months. It is unsightly and unhealthy and now is the time to resolve the problem.
“We are also concerned with the effect this has on general marine pollution.”
Last June Angela Anderson, chair of Plastic-Free Helensburgh, was told by an Argyll and Bute Council official that the cost of recycling bins would be ‘prohibitive’.
She said the town was overwhelmed with rubbish despite regular litter picks and council staff emptying bins every morning.
“Bags are put beside the bins and the only thing that causes rubbish to scatter are the seagulls,” she said.
“We just wonder if there is a plan to put in bigger, better bins over the weekends or bank holidays?
“There is no provision for recycling along the front. Having spoken to a number of visitors, they would be happy to do that if it was possible. Quite often, rubbish is separated.”
Perhaps if there were fish left in the sea, the starving seagulls wouldn’t need to be scavenging the bins.
The litter problem is not related to quantity of bins, purely people’s behaviour expecting someone else to be cleaning up after them.