Langlees public meeting will urge Falkirk Council to bring back pest control service

The recently formed Falkirk District Action Group was set up to protest at Falkirk Council’s decision to scrap all pest control services.

Since then, co-founders Sharron McKean and Janine Reilly have been taking their petition round the district, with the help of mascot Kelpie.

Sharron said: “We’ve been getting a great reaction with Kelpie. We have been taking our petition around various places and having a giant rat lets people know who we are and why we are there – I think it’s a good icebreaker.”

Their first public meeting will be held later this month and they hope that people suffering from rat and mice infestations will come along to make their voices heard.

Falkirk Council’s pest control service has been scrapped and reinstated in the past few years. However, the service was once more cut in last year’s budget, providing a saving of £100,000 every year.

In October, Labour councillors called for a report into reinstating the service but the SNP administration said that at a time when budgets were under strain this would not be a good use of resources.

The group have invited all 30 members of Falkirk Council as well as a representative from the council’s waste services team. They are also hoping for a good turnout from supporters to put their message across.

Sharron said: “We have a Facebook page and people from all over the district have been getting in touch through that. I have been in tears listening to some of the stories, they are really heart-breaking.

“We are holding the meeting because we’d like councillors and council officials to hear some of these stories in the hope that they will change their mind. We want it to be a fair debate though and we’d also like to hear their point of view about why the pest control service was scrapped.

“The group is here so that people don’t feel so alone. Some of the people I’ve been speaking to are just desperate – they don’t have £246 to pay for pest control. We have been getting out to different areas across the district and we have members from right across the whole area.

“We hope that people will come along to ask questions, tell their stories and put their points across.”

The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 28 from 7-9 pm in Bainsford Community Hall, David’s Loan, Falkirk, FK2 7JS.