Council to remove clothes banks

Tipperary Co Council is to remove all of its second-hand clothes banks and centralise clothing collection at its five civic amenity sites.

The council provides more than 80 clothes banks at locations around the county. As well as being costly to operate, the banks have been used to dump rubbish; it is also believed that demand for second-hand clothing has diminished in recent years.

Responding to a request for an update from Cllr Fiona Bonfield, Director of Services Eamon Lonergan told this week's meeting of the council that the banks are to be removed and centralised at the civic amenity sites. Mr Lonergan said the council could not sustain the expenditure required by the clothes banks. He pointed out that this action was flagged a number of months ago.

Cllr David Dunne said many clothes bank sites had become a “magnet for rubbish”. He wondered if the council needed to use CCTV cameras to catch people abusing the sites.

Cllr Máirín McGrath feared an increase of illegal dumping if people had nowhere to bring their second-hand clothes. She made the point that not everyone has access to a civic amenity site in their area.

Cllr McGrath was also concerned about a return of “rogue collectors” taking clothes without authorisation, something she said was widely happening before the council got involved. The main issues with the banks were rubbish and irregular collection; said Cllr McGrath, who questioned whether they should be removed altogether.

Mr Lonergan replied that removing the banks was “not an easy choice” for the council to make. “We don't like cutting a service.” He said the matter came down to budgetary consideration. Operating the clothes banks was a significant annual cost to the council.

The Director of Services for Environment and Climate Action said the council monitors collectors, who had to have a permit for collecting clothes. He pointed out that there are five civic amenity centres in Tipperary and he hoped people would “make the right choice”.