I Belong To Glasgow! (1)

But there's no doubt Glasgow is a bit of a midden these days and needs a big clean-up - not a wee spruce-up.

Wherever you go (north, south, east or west) it's the same - here are some photos taken recently on Maryhill Road, Arlington Street, Park Road and Woodlands Road.

Glasgow's Getting Worse - Not Miles Better

November 16, 2022

I've been writing about Glasgow's problems with rubbish dumping, litter, fly-tipping and graffiti for over two years now and I think it's fair to say very little has changed in. that time.

The City Council's SNP leader, Cllr Susan AItken, is on record as saying that all Glasgow needs is 'a wee spruce up' whereas own eyes tell me that many parts of the city are a 'manky mess'. 

The problems have not appeared overnight, of course, but Glasgow City Council is facing another £120 million budget cut in 2023 after successive years of having its funding squeezed by the SNP Scottish Government.

So the SNP and Team Sturgeon, having been in power since 2007, have had plenty of time to look forward and plan their tax and spending decisions in Scottish local government, the NHS and elsewhere.

Yet many services have been getting slowly worse - instead of slowly better.

Glasgow's Big Bin Problem (November 07, 2022)

Bags of rubbish left beside a council bin on Miller Street - just off George Square and only a few minutes walk from Glasgow City Chambers.

The City Council is in denial but what Glasgow needs is bigger bins, more bins and/or more frequently emptied bins.

Roman Bins vs Glasgow Bins (October 21, 2022)

Roman rubbish bins are rather stylish, I'll give you that!

But unlike Glasgow local Romans don't seem to use them as a dumping ground even when they're full to overflowing.

So while Rome has a real problem with graffiti its city centre streets are relatively clean compared to Glasgow.   

Meanwhile Glasgow's problem is that its bins are too small to accommodate larger items and people have just got used to dumping their rubbish on the pavement.

All of which means that compared to the Italian capital Glasgow is a manky mess.

No Clean City - Glasgow Live (October 21, 2022)

Glasgow has been named as one of the dirtiest cities in the world according to a Time Out readers poll.

I am heading for Rome later this year, so I'll be able to judge for myself how Italy's capital fares compared to Glasgow.  

In the meantime Glasgow council chiefs continue to deny there's an underlying problem or that the city has become something of a 'midden' under their watch.  

Operation Clean Up Glasgow (August 23, 2022)

Edinburgh's making the news headlines these days because of the city's bin strike, but Glasgow's a 'manky midden' just about every day of the week - and that's without any industrial action.

What Glasgow needs is more bins, bigger bins and/or more frequently emptied bins.