Young school children are battling a fly-tip ‘monstrosity’ next to their school in Glasgow, where parents are scared to let children play in a ‘dangerous waste land’.
Pupils at Riverbank Primary School set up their own petition to draw attention to the ‘obscene’ dumping issue where people have discarded ‘soiled clothing, dirty mattresses, hazardous materials, discarded drug paraphernalia, gas canisters, bottles of urine, and sharp shards of glass’.
Fatima Alashinloye, 11, developed the school project to clear up the rubbish after seeing the ‘dangerous’ and ‘horrible’ mess she and her classmates are forced to be around.
She said her friends who live next to the school see ‘rats, papers, gas bottles, mattresses, bed sheets, and bottles of urine’ every morning.
After taking pictures of the ‘disgusting’ mess on her iPad, Fatima went to her class and spoke about what they can do to sort out the ‘monstrosity’.
‘It’s not just an eyesore, but a veritable health hazard,’ their petition said.
‘How can we hope to focus on our education and play when we seem to be in an epicentre of a waste crisis?’
Tired of the ‘intimidating environment that has been forced upon us’, the pupils hope their petition will ‘transform this ‘waste land’ into a cleaner, more community and eco-friendly space’.
Fatima Alashinloye, 11, developed the petition with her classmates after ‘hating’ the ‘dangerous’ and ‘horrible’ mess they walk past every day next to their school (background)
Fatima Aleshinloye (left) and her sister Aisha, 9, (right) surrounded by broken glass, waste refuge, dog bin bags and soiled mattresses
Sisters Asiyah, Aisha and Fatima (left to right) find gas canisters and other drug paraphernalia around their school
Parents are scared to let their children play next to their school because ‘you don’t know what else is in there’
Fatima, who is often joined by her sister Aisha, 9, and Asyah, 6, said she ‘absolutely hated’ having to walk around the ‘really, really disgusting’ waste.
Furious parents and carers have similarly despaired at the safety of the dumping ground so close to their children.
Leanne Smith said her granddaughter who is in P3, found a dead cat amongst the ‘mess’ the other week.
‘Kids just like to come out and run and be kids,’ she said.
Ms Smith’s mother in law lives across the road and had a burst tank last month because the rats which thrive on the ‘waste land’ and have ‘overrun’ the area had chewed through her pipes.
‘It’s a mess, an absolute mess and it’s dangerous,’ she said, ‘you don’t know what else is in there’.
Sumbal Fahad, whose son is in primary two, said all the glass bottles strewn about are ‘not safe for the kids, because they just see it all and they just want to explore and see what it is’.
The Belvedere local added it ‘wasn’t healthy for the school to have so much rubbish nearby – I’m clearly not happy with this’.
William Johnston, 77, said his area had become a ‘dump’ since the Commonwealth Village
‘It’s not just an eyesore, but a veritable health hazard,’ the students’ petition said
Leanne Smith said her granddaughter who is in P3, found a dead cat amongst the ‘mess’ the other week
Riverbank Primary School encouraged their pupils to start the petition and have hosted clean up days in the past
The students’ petition is asking City Legacy, who own the plot of land, to make a ‘proactive deterrence of illegal dumping, immediate cleanup operations, and renewal efforts for the area’.
City Legacy said they were ‘working with Glasgow City Council and other stakeholders to help address this issue’.
They also promised ‘exciting plans for further private and affordable housing at the site’.
SNP MSP John Mason said the new homes would be ‘the answer to the current problems’.
Since the fly-tipping is happening on private land, it is the owner’s responsibility to maintain their property but assured that the council will intervene if it becomes ‘dangerous’.
‘Hopefully, we will see building starting soon and that is the real answer to this problem,’ he added.
William Johnston, 77, said his area had become a ‘dump’ since the Commonwealth Village.
‘When the Games started, you could fry an egg on the pavement, it was that clean, but now they don’t care.
‘How can we hope to focus on our education and play when we seem to be in an epicentre of a waste crisis?’
Lorries full of rubbish drive up to the green and ‘just dump on the pavement or any bit of spare ground’
‘It’s a mess, an absolute mess and it’s dangerous,’ Ms Smith said, ‘you don’t know what else is in there’
They also said responsibility for clearing the waste depends on who owns the land where the waste has been dumped.
‘They promised everything at the time, Sturgeon, the councillors, they promised all sorts of shops.
‘We’ve not got a shop. We’ve not got a post office. They took the post office away where the post box now is, and the shops, the coop, the butchers went. There’s nothing.’
Mr Johnston had seen people with lorries full of rubbish drive up to the green and ‘just dump on the pavement or any bit of spare ground’.
By the time he has reported it, they’ve driven away.
Sarah Hall, whose daughter Millie is in P4 at Riverbank said that there is an issue with people driving into the area and dumping the rubbish – ‘you name it, it’s in there’.
When the football is on, the dumping of glass bottles is worse, the 28-year-old added.
Sarah Hal, with her daughter Millie, said the area had become ‘run down’ since the Commonwealth Games in 2014
‘They tend to stay away from this area now, because the kids take all the rubbish and burn it,’ Ms Hall said
Glasgow City Council said they are ‘hopeful’ the waste land would be cleared ‘in the very near future’ and are working alongside the developers and the schools ‘to better maintain the site in the future’.
They added: ‘The pupils at Riverbank Primary are passionate about the environment and we are proud they are taking action to improve their local community.’
Although originally from Bridgeton, Ms Hall has lived across the road from Riverbank for ten years and said she has seen the decline in the council support since the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
‘They don’t really bother with the area anymore’, she said, which is why they had let it become ‘run down’.
‘They tend to stay away from this area now, because the kids take all the rubbish and burn it.’
Kayley Dowds also thought that the problem had become worse over the years.
Mum to primary four Ben Tetmithalis, eight, and primary one pupil Theo Tetmithalis, five, Ms Dowds said ‘it is a real worry, you name it there is everything here’.
Primary one pupil Theo Tetmithalis, five, (left) and primary four pupil Ben Tetmithalis, eight, said the fly-tipping is ‘the worst thing I’ve ever seen’
Bottles of urine are frequently thrown into the field amongst the other hazardous waste
Tired of the ‘intimidating environment that has been forced upon us’, the pupils hope their petition will ‘transform this ‘waste land’ into a cleaner, more community and eco-friendly space’
Scott Stewart, 45, whose son Grayson, three, will be going to the school after nursery, said the area had been allowed to become an ‘absolute dump’
Jigarr Muchhala, 39, with his six-year-old son Kiaan who goes to Riverbank – Mr Muchhala is ‘angry that there’s nothing being done’
‘People don’t care and are just fly tipping even though the school tries to do clean ups.’
The 38-year-old said her children instinctively want to go and jump on the disposed bed but she has to remind them it is not safe.
Ben added that he does not ‘feel good about the mess’.
‘They need to clean it up. It’s the worst thing I’ve seen and I think it’s dangerous.’
Scott Stewart, 45, whose son Grayson, three, will be going to the school after nursery, said the area was meant to be developed as a second phase of the Commonwealth village.
‘They are starting to test the grounds and there are plans but it is a mess right now. It’s an absolute dump.’
Jigarr Muchhala, 39, whose six-year-old son Kiaan goes to Riverbank said the land had ‘become a dump yard – there’s dog dirt everywhere I look’.
‘Wherever we walk, it is there,’ he sighed, feeling ‘angry that there’s nothing being done’.
