It’s judging time for tidy towns
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The village of Birdhill, a multi-award winner in the Super Valu Tidy Towns Contest, looking beautiful as always.Image 2 of 3
Mechanisation traditionally used on farms in the area feaure at Ballinahinch, including the turnip sowing machine.Image 3 of 3
One of the features at Shallee created by the local Tidy Towns Committee.Six local centres will compete for points in the SuperValu National Tidy Towns Contest 2025, the adjudication of which is scheduled to commence this weekend.
The centres, Birdhill, Shallee, Killoscully, Toor, Newport and Ballinahinch, will have to wait until late autumn to know how they have fared in the contest for the year, with those at the higher end of the scoring chart expected to be adjudicated upon twice in the meantime.
All adjudications are carried out without prior notification to the local committee or contact with any member of the local community during the process. But frequently observant local people believe that they spotted potential judges assessing every detail of their location.
All six of the local entries were awarded increased points last year.
Birdhill, overall national winner of the coveted title in 2018, maintained their strong position with the highest score at 372 points, second in the county and winners of a bronze medal, with an increase of nine points on 2023.
The biggest increase last year was achieved by Shallee, who were awarded 295 points, an increase of 14 points on 2023 - results in recognition of a lot of hard work by the small local committee.
Ballinahinch, Newport and Toor each received increases of 12 points. The increase brought Newport to 313 points, Toor to 322 points and Ballinahinch to 328 points.
The picturesque village of Killoscully in the shadow of Keeper Hill was awarded an additional 11 points, bringing their score to 362 points - the second highest in their category in Tipperary North and within 10 points of Birdhill, the former national winners.
Each of the entrants received an adjudicator’s report each year showing them how they scored in each of the eight sections.
While the highest points, a maximum of 90 points, continues to be for overall tidiness and litter control, planning and community involvement, streetscape and public places, and the green spaces and biodiversity each now carry a possible score of up to 80 points.
More emphasis is also being placed now on more natural aspects of the respective areas and somewhat less on purely decorative flower beds etc, it appears than would have been in the earlier years of the competition.
Best of luck to each of the entrants and compliments on the superb work they have been doing to enhance the appearance of their respec tive locations.