Nearly four tonnes of litter and fly-tipping have been collected as part of a major clean-up.
The Barrhead Big Clean Up event took place last week as part of a wider effort to improve open spaces across East Renfrewshire, coinciding with the launch of the council’s new litter strategy.
Aligned with A Place to Grow, the community planning partnership vision, the strategy aims to drive positive behavioural change around litter and waste across the area.
More than 280 people took part, including council employees, volunteers and pupils and staff from nearby schools.
Danny Devlin, East Renfrewshire Council’s environment and housing convener, said: “A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the Barrhead Big Clean Up.
“Your time and commitment have made a visible difference to our town — helping to encourage pride in our places, making them cleaner and more welcoming for everyone.
“This event is a powerful reminder of how important it is to look after our environment and not spoil public places with litter.
“Most of us dispose of our litter responsibly, but the minority spoil it for the rest of us.
“The Clean Up was a great opportunity to highlight that littering and fly-tipping is not acceptable.”
The event targeted known hotspots across Barrhead, including Carlibar Park, Auchenback, Dunterlie, Glasgow Road, Dams to Darnley, the Westbourne Centre and Cowan Park.
Participants included pupils and staff from Barrhead and St Luke’s High Schools, and Carlibar, St John’s and St Mark’s Primary Schools.
Businesses such as Country Feeds Pet Shop, George Leslie and Auld Kirk Nursery also took part.
During the clean-up, council staff also tackled graffiti, cleaned road signs, trimmed hedges and tidied plant beds.
East Renfrewshire has consistently high cleanliness scores, with Keep Scotland Beautiful recording a 94.9% rating in 2024/25.
Nonetheless, the council is not complacent, with the Barrhead clean-up just the first in a series planned across East Renfrewshire.
Mr Devlin said: “A clean and well cared for East Renfrewshire is important to us all.
“We want to keep working with our partners and communities to support a cleaner environment for us all to flourish, thrive and live well.
“Our vision is to keep East Renfrewshire beautiful — and this is exactly what our big clean-up events aim to do.
“I am already looking forward to the next one.”
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