Covid hampers household waste inspections

The Covid-19 pandemic has hampered Tipperary Co Council's new initiative of calling to local households to see how people are disposing of domestic waste.

Part of a new scheme aimed at tackling the ongoing problem of illegal dumping in Tipperary, a total of 279 households were contacted by the council last year and asked to provide confirmation of a waste refuse service. The majority of households surveyed were found to be compliant; in Nenagh Municipal District, 15 houses were surveyed and 60% were compliant.

Speaking at the January meeting of Tipperary Co Council, Cllr Pat English described the numbers as “disappointing to say the least”. He said the council would have to inspect many more households if it were serious about tackling the problem.

Cllr English was also critical of the number of litter fines issued in 2020, a total of 213, more than half of which were in Tipperary town, two of which resulted in legal proceedings. There were 21 fines issued in Nenagh town (16 of which were paid) and just one in Nenagh Municipal District.

Director of Services Clare Curley said the Covid-19 situation meant the council had to hold back many of its environmental plans in 2020. While almost 300 households were inspected, the council had few opportunities to arrange household visits without putting its staff or householders at risk.

“When we return to normality, we will increase inspections again,” Ms Curley informed the online meeting. It was a similar situation with litter fines, though Ms Curley added that the council had a number of “very, very good results” in court during the year. She said the “zero tolerance” approach would continue where perpetrators of illegal dumping are caught.

Cllr Shane Lee thanked the council for its rapid response to the dumping of a large number of bags of rubbish in a river at a bog near Roscrea over Christmas. He asked about what penalties might apply if the culprit behind such acts is found to be a local authority tenant.

Ms Curley replied that local authority tenants are subject to the same fines as private householders. She also made it clear that the household inspection initiative applies to private as well as council households. She said the Roscrea cleanup was one of many incidents that the council's Environment team responded to over the Christmas period; there was another one locally in Cloughjordan.

Senior Executive Officer Marion O'Neill said the council's income from litter fines doubled in 2020. She encouraged people to inform the council about litter blackspots and said the local authority would respond to all reports.

Meanwhile, councillors were informed that more than 125,000 customers visited Tipperary's five civic amenity sites in 2020, a 22% increase in footfall over the previous year. A tender was awarded for the installation of 21 skips and compactors in the Nenagh and Roscrea sites, which would improve their capacity.