Pencil a community spring clean into your June diary
Communities across Tipperary are being called on to take part in An Taisce's National Spring Clean 2020, which will take place in June.
Registration is open for the annual national initiative, which normally takes place in April but has this year been moved to a timeframe of June 8th to 20th, due to the coronavirus crisis. An unfortunate feature of the pandemic has been the illegal dumping of tonnes of waste across Tipperary.
Cathaoirleach of Nenagh Municipal District Cllr Joe Hannigan (Ind) last week encouraged local communities to join in this year's Spring Clean. He pointed out that equipment such as litter pickers and bags are provided, and the collected rubbish will be taken away without charge.
Cllr Hannigan was speaking at the district's May meeting, at which several councillors expressed outrage at the growing level of illegal dumping seen since the start of the pandemic. Dog owners were also criticised over a noticeable increase in dog fouling in the district over recent months.
Cllr Phyll Bugler (FG) said this problem has become particularly evident in Ballina. She suggested that more bags should be made available for dog owners. Cllr Bugler said local Tidy Towns groups would be joining in the Spring Clean and hoped they would be equipped with masks as well as cleaning equipment.
Cllr John Carroll (FF) agreed that dog litter has become an increasing problem and he sympathised with the council's wardens in having to deal with owners, some of whom are not co-operative.
But Cllr Carroll was incensed at the amount of rubbish being dumped in rural parts of the district and wanted far stronger penalties imposed for offenders. While he appreciated that prosecutions can be a “cumbersome process”, he referred to an April incident where three people witnessed a man dumping refuse over a wall in the local district and wanted to know why no action was apparent as yet. Cllr Carroll said other local authorities are prosecuting such incidents under the Waste Management Act - rather than the Litter Act - where fines of up to €5,000 can be imposed; he wanted to see the same happening in Tipperary.
As a postman, Cllr Séamie Morris (Ind) said he has noticed a dramatic increase in litter around the locality over the last couple of months. He recommended a number of locations for the installation of CCTV cameras to catch offenders.
Cllr Morris also observed an increased use of bottle banks since the onset of the pandemic. The bins are often full and people are leaving boxes and bottles on the ground. Cllr Morris also raised an issue of people dumping rubbish in Nenagh's Hawthorns estate and vegetation encroaching from the old barracks site; the council should hire a contractor to remedy the problem and charge the Department of Defence, he suggested.
Cllr Ger Darcy (FG) mentioned a previous problem with dumping in a drain at Moanfin. Much of the rubbish was cleared by locals under the Spring Clean initiative but the area may need to be revisited again, he said.
Cllr Hannigan spoke of the success of the “Pick Your Patch” roadside cleanup scheme in his area. Tidy Towns groups and other volunteers are doing a lot of good work and are willing to do more.
But he said illegal dumping is “soul-destroying for these people”, and people in general are very annoyed with what is happening. Householders are now required by byelaw to prove how they are disposing of rubbish and this should be enforced, Cllr Hannigan said. He added that dog litter bins are needed in Puckane village.
Ruairi Boland, Senior Executive Engineer with the council's Environment & Climate Action section, said dog fouling in public places has increased since the arrival of Covid-19 with far more people out walking their dogs. The council would have to look at the capacity for providing more bins.
Mr Boland also encouraged local groups to contact An Taisce to receive equipment for the Spring Clean. The council can provide additional equipment if required.
The bottle bank issue has been looked at by the council. A faster return rate than before is now in place and more regular “ad hoc” collections can also be made if necessary.
Regarding householders’ proof of waste disposal, Mr Boland said the new byelaws have proven useful in the limited time they have been available. Enforcement officers cannot call to doors with the current restrictions but Mr Boland expected to see a lot more action in this area going forward.
Cllr Carroll said he would love for people who contribute to illegal dumping to see what the council's wardens must go though in cleaning up the mess. “Some people have no moral conscience,” Cllr Carroll said. “Shame on them.”