| Around 20 caravans rolled into a car park at Riverside Business Park, adjacent to the former Scottish Water premises close to the airport, earlier this week and have left rubbish on the site.
Now the city council’s chief executive David Dorward has deployed the authority’s rapid response team to clear up the mess following worries about an increase in rubbish bringing more seagulls to the airport.
West End councillor Fraser Macpherson said he has been in contact with senior figures to have something done about the encampment.
He said, “There have been concerns raised that the amount of litter on the site is attracting an increased number of seagulls to the area.
“Both litter blowing onto the runway and more birds could pose a issue for the airport as they spend a lot of time keeping their runways clear.”
It also emerged today that legal action is under way to remove the large encampment, the latest in a long line that has caused controversy and attracted dismay from locals over recent months.
They ignored a notice served by the landowner at Riverside that gave them 24-hours to move on and now legal action has been taken to have them thrown off the site.
The encampment at Riverside is one of the largest seen this year in Dundee and is the fifth major gathering of travellers in the city in recent months.
Groups of travellers have previously set up at Birkhill, Stannergate and Dunsinane over the summer, drawing criticism from people living in adjacent areas.
A gathering of travellers earlier this month on ground near Birkhill Cemetery, which is owned by the local authority, left a residue of rubbish, rotten food and human and canine waste. More caravans then appeared on a site at Stannergate next to the city’s port and further along in Riverside Avenue. |
