Dundee council is set to benefit from a £27,500 grant aimed at tackling the problem of chewing gum on the city’s streets.
The local authority successfully bid for the highest grant available from the Keep Britain Tidy task force, a scheme funded by companies who produce chewing gum.
It’s will be used to purchase street cleaning equipment and fund “street cleansing activities” which will focus on encouraging people to stop littering gum.
The money has been welcomed by councillors on the administration, who also urged Dundonians to play their part in keeping the city clean.
Convener of the fair work, economic growth infrastructure committee, Councillor Steven Rome said: “This scheme will see an initial focus on our city centre area.
“Dundee city centre is an attractive destination, and cleanliness and appearance play an important role in that.
“The council’s services will be taking steps to target chewing gum litter. We ask that members of the public make their task as easy as possible by disposing of their chewing gum waste appropriately.”
Dundee city cleanliness under scrutiny
The cleanliness of Dundee city centre has come under scrutiny in recent months after an exclusive survey by The Courier found more than half of respondents felt the cleanliness of the city’s High Street was “poor” or “very poor”.
And last week, figures from the council’s environment management team revealed the number of street cleaners employed by the local authority had fallen by more than a quarter since 2015.
This represents a decline of 35%.
The concerns led to council leader John Alexander pledging an additional £200,000 to help clean up the city, with him admitting cleanliness in Dundee had “taken a dip”.
The money will be spent on recruiting temporary street cleaners, purchasing additional litter bins for the city and supporting community clean ups.
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