A GALASHIELS councillor asked whether something could be done about a “guard of honour of wheelie bins” on one of the town’s roads at a meeting last week.

Harry Scott, an independent representative of Galashiels, was speaking at a meeting of the council’s audit and scrutiny committee on Thursday (June 3).

And during the virtual gathering he asked Scottish Borders Council (SBC) waste manager Ross Sharp-Dent about a “particular problem in Galashiels”.

READ MORE: 'Modern and attractive': Former Borders shop and café goes up for rent

“One of the main entrances to the town is Magdala Terrace which has a guard of honour of wheelie bins down the footway,” said Mr Scott, who added that some residents have no area to store the bins around the back of their house.

“What is the criteria for households using sacks rather than wheelie bins?”

Responding, Mr Sharp-Dent said: “I don’t disagree with your view that it’s a little bit like ‘Wheelie Bin City’ when you access Galashiels off that road there.”

However, Mr Sharp-Dent added that it is SBC’s preference to have wheelie bins rather than sacks “because of manual handling injuries”.

According to council papers, the majority of Borders households (i.e. 52,000) present their waste in wheeled bins with around 7,000 presenting in bags/sacks.

Mr Sharp-Dent said he wants to set up a meeting with the Galashiels councillors about the bins on Magdala Terrace.

READ MORE: Borders town to get cycle lanes for 12 months as part of trial, confirms council

Meanwhile, Mr Scott – who praised bin staff as the “forgotten heroes” of the pandemic – said he had received some complaints about Galashiels recycling centre.

“Some people are having difficulty lifting the material over the barriers because they’re quite high,” he said.

Mr Sharp-Dent said the barriers have to be that high to stop people falling from a height.

“I’m aware that it’s a challenge for certain people,” said Mr Sharp-Dent. “Outside of COVID our staff around are able to help so that [the pandemic] isn’t helping the situation.”