Councillors continue to wage war on litter

Disappointment at the reluctance of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad to install extra litter bins at the children’s play area in Collinstown was expressed at its April meeting by Cllr Paddy Hill.

“It is a policy of Westmeath County Council to reduce the number of litter bins in public areas and to encourage people to bring their litter home for disposal,” the reply provided by the District to Cllr Hill’s motion stated.

Cllr Hill also asked that consideration be given to erecting more ‘no dumping’ signs throughout the district, as well as providing extra surveillance cameras.

“I understand these to be effective,” he said.

The written response provided stated that community wardens investigate complaints of litter and dumping and that litter blackspots are checked on a scheduled basis.

“Signs are placed at litter black spots and CCTV is employed on a case by case basis,” the reply concluded.

Cllr Frank McDermott supported Cllr Hill’s motion, saying he regularly gets appeals for the erection of ‘no dumping’ signs.

Cllr McDermott also criticised the “blaggards” who “desecrated” the Covid-prevention signs at Fore on Good Friday by writing slogans on them such as “hoax” and “breathe free”.

Also in support of Cllr Hill’s motion were Cllr Emily Wallace and Cllr Denis Leonard.

East of county

A claim that dumping has become an issue on the road between The Downs and Knockmant has been made by Cllr Aoife Davitt. To help combat the problem, Cllr Davitt asked at April meeting that ‘no dumping’ signs be erected.

“This is a litter blackspot,” she told the meeting.

Fellow Fianna Fáil councillor, John Shaw, also used the word “blackspot” to describe a location at Craddenstown, Raharney, close to Bord na Móna’s property, where a dumping problem has been developing over a long period of time. He asked that CCTV cameras be installed there.

By way of response to the councillors’ calls, the executive stated that complaints of littering or dumping are investigated by the community wardens and that litter blackspots are checked on a scheduled basis and that signs are placed at such areas on a case by case basis.

Director of services Deirdre Reilly undertook to have staff keep an eye on the issue, and in response to the area identified by Cllr Davitt, asked her to advise people in the area to use the council’s reporting system whenever they become aware of an incident.

“We’ll be happy to go out and investigate,” Ms Reilly told the Fianna Fail councillor, adding that consideration will be given to the question of whether signs or CCTV would be the best solution.

Abandoned caravan

Cllr Shaw also drew the executive’s attention to an abandoned caravan and dumped materials at the roundabout off the N4 in Kinnegad.

To this came the response that the district and the council’s housing staff are addressing the abandoned vehicle issue, while the dumped material at that location has been removed. Director of services, Deirdre Reilly, said it was not entirely clearly that the caravan is actually abandoned.