‘Seasonal amenity wardens’ appointed for the summer

(Above) The photo was sent in by a reader of the litter left by people at Lough Owel recently.

Westmeath County Council has appointed two ‘seasonal amenity wardens’ whose job will be to travel around recreation spots to encourage people to bin or take home their rubbish.

The council has identified 24 recreational locations around the county and the new wardens will visit those spots every Saturday and Sunday during the summer.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, council official Jonathan Deane, senior engineer, outlined what the wardens will do.

“They will go to those locations just to consult with people and see if there are any particular issues and to encourage people to bring home their rubbish.

“There will be two wardens travelling the county every weekend between now and the end of the summer.

“They are not there to pick up rubbish. They are just there to go advice. If people have forgotten to bring bags, they will have bags with them. They can give people bags [for refuse] and they will have bags for dog poo too.

“If they find bins overflowing, they will take photographs and contact the municipal district to have the bins cleared as soon as they can. They are there for information, to help people, to enforce the message to people to bring home their rubbish and to ensure that we can all enjoy our outdoor amenities together,” Mr Deane said.

Littering at Lough Owel

Meanwhile, following recent good weather the Westmeath Examiner was contacted by a member of the public to highlight the ongoing problem of people littering local recreation spots such as the diving board at Lough Owel.

The male, who enjoys early mornings swims in the lake, said that he was “disgusted” by the amount of rubbish left beside the bins that are next to the steps leading down to the diving board. He generally goes for his swim before council outdoor staff arrive to clean up, remove rubbish and empty the bins at the diving board.

“They [the people who litter] think they can treat one of our county’s best natural assets like this and walk away for someone else to clean up. The council need to be way more proactive rather than reactive on this,” he said.

“How are they expecting anyone to change their behaviour if they just keep cleaning up after them. Enforcement through litter warden issuing on the spot fines to these louts will be a start, then its CCTV, publicly naming and shaming,” he said.