A SENIOR Selkirk councillor has questioned the mentaility of those who dumped a sofa and armchairs just yards from the town’s recycling facility.
The furniture was left on ground near the entrance of the Philipburn Country House Hotel and was still there at the end of last week.
A reader contacted TheSouthern to highlight the problem, sending in a number of photographs of the abandoned furniture.
“Can something be mentioned in your paper about the fly tipping that has happened along by the Long Philip Burn in Selkirk?” she asked.
“This has been dumped and nothing has been done. I have included two pictures that I took to let you and your readers see the mess it has made; animals and birds are now starting to pick at the chairs so the stuffing is now being pulled out. Whoever did this could have disposed of their furniture in the correct way.”
Local councillor Gordon Edgar (Selkirkshire, Ind) confirmed he was aware of the dumped furniture, having seen it for himself as recently as last Wednesday.
“The stuff has been left on land at what was the old Philiphaugh Farm and I’m afraid, as I know from personal experience of dealing with a similar problem, that it will be the responsibility of the landowner to dispose of these chairs,” Mr Edgar explained.
“I don’t know who the land belongs to now, but it is not the council’s responsibility to clear it away.”
Mr Edgar says he finds it hard to believe that someone had tipped the chairs so close to the local authority recycling facility, where the items could have been disposed of for free.
“These are bulk items so a vehicle must have been used, so why not just drive a wee bit further along the road and dispose of them legally at the recycling yard?
“Sometimes it is difficult to fathom the mentality of the people who do this sort of thing.”
Mr Edgar said he has had no recent reports from constituents complaining about fly-tipping incidents.
However, earlier this month two armchairs were spotted floating down the Ettrick River, close to the rear of the Baxter’s store.
Comments