A crack team of volunteers is being formed to help clean and brighten up one of Fife’s most famous tourist hotspots.
BID St Andrews is pulling together the ‘St Andrews Green Squad’ to tackle environmental issues in the town after those surveyed during a recent consultation all classed the area’s appearance as “important” or “very important”.
The project, partly funded by a grant won by BID St Andrews, will employ a supervisor to train and lead a small team of volunteers, including youngsters seeking employability skills, to deliver a range of agreed environmental projects within the BID area.
The ‘Green Squad’ will work on specific ‘Tidy Up’ campaigns covering the town centre, harbour and East Sands in co-ordination with and, where possible, in collaboration with other volunteer organisations active within the BID area, including St Andrews in Bloom and Zero Waste Scotland’s volunteer co-ordinator.
In addition, the group will be tasked with footpath weed removal, collecting unwanted items from student accommodation to ensure efficient, safe and environmentally sound disposal and/or recycling, and town centre inspections, which will include liaision with businesses to assess their energy efficiency.
Alistair Lang, BID St Andrews chair, explained: “The ‘Clean and Green’ initiatives which improve the town for residents and visitors alike are a core part of the BID Business Plan because they were requested by businesses in the consultations undertaken during the BID application phase.
“The consultations identified the importance of the town’s appearance and the need to maintain high environmental standards – with all respondents considering the appearance of the town as either important or very important.
“There are many other, smaller, initiatives and tasks which will fall under the Green Squad’s remit.
“Some will be pilot schemes to look at new and improved ways of collecting waste as well as general improvements of our streets and public spaces – for the benefit of all.
“We will share the details of them as they emerge.
“Because St Andrews is a major Scottish tourist destination we play a vital role not just in Fife’s economic future but in Scotland’s.
“So the positive impacts this initiative will have will spread well beyond simply making St Andrews a nicer place to visit and live.”
The project will be led by BID St Andrews and delivered by the St Andrews Environmental Network (StAndEN) – an environmental charity based in Fife Council’s local area offices in St Andrews.
StAndEN chairman Ronnie Murphy concluded: “We’re delighted this partnership with BID St Andrews is allowing us both to fulfil some of the shared goals we have as well as delivering one of the key ‘Clean and Green’ elements of the BID Business Plan.”
