Roscrea's bottle and clothes banks overflowing say angry locals

Local people in Roscrea are fed up with repeated instances of illegal dumping and littering in the town centre.

The hard work of voluntary groups such as Roscrea's very dedicated Tidy Towns and the efforts of the business community to keep the town centre clean and attractive for visitors is undermined by a few careless litter louts, a frustrated local businesswoman told the Tribune.

This problem needs to be tackled urgently as it ruins the town's chances to be an attractive place to visit as pandemic restrictions ease and tourists return, they added, reminding everyone to encourage their children and teenagers to do the right thing with their rubbish and use the street bins provided.

Local people residing in the town centre also told the Tribune they are concerned that the town's main bottle bank deposit bins in the Lourdes Street car park (adjacent to the public toilets) are repeatedly overfilled and left overflowing when they can't accommodate anymore bottles for recycling, which is attracting vermin and creating foul smells.

Nearby signs warn litter louts that the area is monitored by 24-hour cctv and the site is very close to the local Garda Station, but the problem persists, they said. The issue is also replicated in the several clothes banks dotted around the town centre, where the deposit bins reach capacity yet people drop their items at the foot of the bin.

Meanwhile, there is some good news after new Smart Bins provided by Tipperary County Council were installed in Roscrea's Glebe Park.