The Merchiston Leaf-Clearing Project

Update 2024-5

Merchiston is a long established community blessed with many beautiful trees which can look glorious when they change colour in autumn. But sadly, when the trees lose their leaves, a huge volume of leaves pile up on the pavements and gutters. They soon form soggy ‘leaf litter’ which can cause pedestrians to slip; and just as bad, the leaves can clog up the street drains. Combined with heavy rainfall, this is a real recipe for flooding disasters – particularly at the bottom of the streets in Merchiston that slope downhill.

To reduce these risks Merchiston Community Council (MCC) has, since October 2021, been supporting the ‘Merchiston Leaf Clearing Project’ (MLCP) – within which members of the local community are encouraged to volunteer to clear leaves from the local streets and gutters.

The Project is supported by Edinburgh City Council, which is no longer able to arrange regular leaf clearing of all the streets, but which provides the MLCP with bags, brushes and shovels for its Volunteers. Importantly, the Council also collect the bags of leaves for disposal and sends them, along with household waste, for ‘energy recovery’ by turning them into electricity.

The MLCP Volunteers vary in what they can achieve. Sweeping up leaves from a small stretch where they live isn’t too hard and if this can be done alone – that’s great. But there are lots of stretches where the volume of leaves is a much greater challenge. Joining with others in places where large trees are shedding their leaves can help to reduce the risk of pavement injuries and prevent the blocking of street drains – and working together can be good fun

All Volunteers report interesting reactions from passers-by – many say ‘thank you’; some ask if the Volunteers are doing ‘community service’; and quite a number seem unaware that the Council is unable to provide a regular street clearing service – while some even criticise the Volunteers for taking on the task. Strangely, many passers-by just ‘pass by’, ignoring the devoted work of the Volunteers.

By December 2021, the MLCP volunteers had filled 1061 bags with leaves; in 2022/23 the number of filled bags was 1045; and in 2023/24 the total of reported bags was 989 but the Council had also collected many bags before they were reported

MCC would like to encourage residents in the local area to join the Volunteer Team in the Merchiston Leaf Clearing Project

To do so please send an e-mail to merchistonleafclearing@gmail.com adding your name + address + phone number. You will receive an e-mail response with information about how to become involved.

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The Merchiston Community Council Leaf Clearing project is coordinated by Joan Houston and Helen Zealley.