Ahead of the upcoming local elections, I visited town centres across Tayside and Fife to judge the amount of litter lying around and general cleanliness.
My Angus visits took in the area’s two largest towns — Arbroath and Forfar.
It was a tale of two towns.
Broadly speaking, Forfar was looking respectable while Arbroath left a lot to be desired.
These are just a snapshot on a given day, of course, but offer an impression of how Angus Council is dealing with litter.
Earlier this week I published my findings from Dundee and Fife.
The series will finish with the visits of Perth & Kinross tomorrow.
So, how were things in Angus? Let’s find out.
Arbroath
Date: April 12, afternoon
There was lots of litter, such as empty juice bottles and snack wrappers and crisp packets.
Cigarette butts were also an issue.
Litter tended to be near kerbs and at the edge of roads and pavements.
There was also debris lying on the path leading up to Arbroath Abbey — the town’s biggest attraction.
While it may be currently closed, that’s not the best impression for visitors.
For a town that could already use a bit of a facelift, the accumulation of little bits of litter lying around tarnishes the town’s image even further.
Oh yes, and there was dog excrement on the pavement. In the town centre.
Shame on that dog owner.
Verdict
Arguably the worst town centre I visited for this series.
It could put off visitors wanting to try a famous Arbroath Smokie or check out the Abbey.
But more importantly, for people who live in Angus’ biggest town, it must be disheartening to see your town centre badly in need of a clean.
Forfar
Date: April 12, afternoon
I didn’t know what to expect upon arriving at Forfar.
I haven’t been there much since the original lockdown, but in my mind’s eye I remember it both looking really nice and really run down.
So what I found was a pleasant surprise. There was barely any litter at all.
Granted, the weather was wet and grey, but if it was a sunny day Forfar would have looked positively glorious.
But – and there’s always a but – that’s not to say the town was spotless.
There was a smattering of litter at kerbsides, and someone ditched a newspaper and juice bottle near a bus stop, despite a bin being about five steps away.
A standout was a scrunched up betting slip near the town hall.
It can’t have been a lucky day for that punter.
Verdict
The town was looking as good as could be realistically expected. While there were some bits of litter to be seen, Forfar definitely won the battle of Angus against its Arbroath rival.
How many street cleaners are there in Angus?
There are 22 full-time and three part-time dedicated street cleaners in Angus, according to a freedom of information (FOI) request.
There is also a “large number of staff” who carry out combined street cleaning and refuse collection duties, the FOI response stated.
However, Angus Council could not supply numbers of dedicated street cleaners for previous years.
The FOI response did highlight that seven dedicated street cleaners were added to the workforce in 2019.
‘Unfair snapshot’
An Angus Council spokeswoman came out fighting against my findings.
She said a snapshot of a single day “may provide an unfair representation” of a town centre.
“We do prioritise the cleanliness of our high streets, but on a very few occasions we do experience operational issues, such as vehicle breakdowns or staff shortages that disrupt our normal cleaning operations.”
She pointed out there were currently 877 litter bins and 591 dog poo bins available for use across Angus.
“We are working closely with our communities and our own street cleaning efforts are supplemented by individual volunteers and local community groups who help keep the streets and open spaces of Angus clean.”
Conversation