Over the coming year, dedicated teams of cleansing staff from the Council are making their way around the Capital with the aim of sprucing up each neighbourhood and ward.
The funding being used is almost a million pounds of additional resource allocated in the February 2024 budget to be used this year as well as the same amount each year going forward.
The ‘Pride in our City’ project began in March when teams concentrated their efforts around the Leith Walk area (Ward 12) clearing 36 tonnes of dog fouling, litter, dumped items, graffiti, weeds and chewing gum.
The Council is using a dedicated website and email address www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cleanstreets and cleanstreets@edinburgh.gov.uk to keep residents up-to-date on when they will be in their area and asking residents to help them prioritise where they think the work most needs to be carried out. Community events are listed on the webpage and how to get involved.
Work is now moving to the Leith area (Ward 13) for the next few weeks where the team has its first community event tonight (Wednesday 14 May). This will help the cleansing teams prioritise which streets should be cleaned. They will also carry out inspections of each neighbourhood they work in and use complaint data to help prioritise the streets that most need to be spruced up.
Social media is also being used to keep residents up-to-date with progress and signage is being placed in areas where the cleansing teams are working to make local residents and businesses aware.
As the teams work in each area around the city, they will also report any other issues they spot, such as pot holes looked after by other Council teams, but which need addressed.
Cllr Stephen Jenkinson Environment Convener said:
I’m really pleased to see this project progressing with the additional funding we allocated last year as it is so important that we all take pride in our city. We’re playing our part as a Council and we’re asking residents in every neighbourhood and ward across Edinburgh to do the same. We are a stunning Capital city popular not only with our residents but also with visitors from across the globe so it’s very important that we all make an effort to do all we can to keep the city looking its best.
I’d encourage you to check out our dedicated webpage for updates on when we are coming to your neighbourhood/ward and let us know if there are particular issues in streets in your area such as dog fouling, fly tipping, weeds, graffiti or general littering. If you live, work or study in the Leith area and are aware of streets causing issues which need to be cleaned, I’d also encourage you to go along tonight and tell the team or email them using the dedicated email address.
Also for residents and visitors to Edinburgh please make sure you play your part helping us to keep our beautiful Capital city clean by binning your litter responsibly when out and about. For our residents please recycle where possible and book a special uplift appointment for bulker items if you are unable to book a slot at one of our Household and Waste Recycling Centres for appropriate disposal.
Further information
Videos being shared on social media of street cleansing and graffiti removal.
Community event - Wednesday 14 May 2025, 3pm to 6pm
Ward 13 Leith community workshop
Thomas Morton Hall, Leith Theatre
28-30 Ferry Road
Edinburgh, EH6 4AE