West Lothian Council will take motion towards homeowners with scruffy gardens in Bathgate, councillors have been promised.
The promise got here after Labour’s Harry Cartmill instructed the Native Space Committee that the variety of overgrown gardens within the city was an indication that “society was de-evolving”.
He adopted that up this week when the city’s housing supervisor, Graeme McKee, addressed the most recent assembly of the committee.
Becoming a member of the committee for the primary time had been newly elected councillors Labour’s Tony Pearson and Pauline Stafford for the SNP.
Councillor Cartmill mentioned: “One in every of issues I observed all through the city, particularly in Glen Mavis, and up the place I stay, and that’s the quantity of gardens in council properties which are unkempt. However there’s many past that. There’s some have garbage dumps within the gardens, hedges haven’t been lower, grass hasn’t been lower for years. “I do know it’s a part of your tenancy settlement that you need to maintain gardens tidy. Now that officers are again roughly working as regular I'm wondering if a spotlight might be placed on this.
“It actually brings down the world once you see somebody taking care of their backyard and taking care of their property and their neighbour’s home is wanting actually like a garbage dump. It actually brings down areas. I’ve had lots of complaints about it, however I've seen it with my very own eyes many occasions.”
He added: “We’re not anticipating each backyard to seem like the Beechgrove Backyard or a few of these exhibits on TV, however simply sufficient that they might lower the grass, maintain the hedges down and positively don’t dump garbage throughout the gardens.”
Mr McKee mentioned: “I might agree. To not attempt to put the blame on Covid for every thing however a part of the estates officers’ position throughout the summer season months is to do walkabouts to determine this. Once more that’s not been one thing that’s been taking place over the previous two years and we have now been counting on folks making complaints on to us for us to take motion.
“I’m completely satisfied to say that the estates officers right here at Bathgate have been instructed to hold out walkabouts once more. I’m hoping that that is one thing that’s going to be picked up lots sooner after which we take recognized properties by way of our backyard course of.”
Mr Cartmill mentioned: “That’s nice to listen to. Hopefully that may make a distinction over the subsequent 12 months or so.”
Mr McKee added that estates officers had already began getting out within the ward as working practices started to return to regular. The Bathgate staff is now absolutely staffed with two new group housing officers after the staff was understaffed for a variety of years.
Andy Johnston from the NET’s staff added that tenants can be lettered about points and requested to tidy up the backyard themselves. In the event that they refuse the NETs backyard upkeep crew would perform the work, with a cost being added to the tenants’ lease.
This was the system pre pandemic and Mr Johnston mentioned he hoped the housing division and NETs might re-establish it.
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