Strong result for Tullamore by Irish Business Against Litter
With a little extra effort the Bridge Centre Car Park could be a top ranking site, say judges
Tullamore has once again been declared 'Clean to European Norms', and ranked 19th in the country. However, the town scored lower than either Mullingar which was placed 15th and Portlaoise 17th.
The An Taisce report for Tullamore stated; ''Another strong result for Tullamore, with no heavily littered sites. More importantly, previously poor sites have been addressed. Action has clearly been taken at both the Canal side parking area (Daingean Road) where the bring centre was removed due to dumping and at the vacant site on Offaly Street which was much cleaner than previously.
O’Connor Square, Patrick Street and Columcille Street were all very well presented and maintained. There was a definite litter presence at the residential area of Cloncollig Housing Estate – levels were such that it could quickly deteriorate to a seriously littered state,'' said the report.
The full details are as follows:
Clonminch Roundabout to Cloncollig Roundabout: Grade A. This approach road was a very welcoming one. It was immaculate throughout. There was plenty of greenery at Clonmich Roundabout.
Canal Side Parking, Daingean Road: Grade B. Signage indicates that: ‘Due to Illegal Dumping, this Bring Centre has been removed’ with suggestions of other Bring Centres to use. A pity to see the removal of Bring Centres, but good to see action being taken. Scattered litter included sweet papers and cigarette butts and other pieces of paper.
Vacant Site, Offally Street: Grade B. Big improvements were noted compared to previous IBAL visit. However, the site still presents poorly and likely to deteriorate back to previous status if not monitored carefully.
Cloncollig Housing Estate: Grade B. There were some areas within this residential which were fine with regards to litter, other areas much less so – overall result was a moderately littered one. Items were present on the grass verges at the grasslands and in the hedges – such areas are likely to attract further litter if not addressed. This area could quickly slide to seriously littered status.
Patrick Street: Grade A. This shopping street was very much deserving of the top litter grade. The area was enhanced by large planter boxes and tree planting, particularly welcome along the older stretch of pavement.
There was a virtual absence of litter throughout. Bridge Shopping Centre: Grade B+. A freshly presented environment which just missed the top litter grade. With a little extra effort, this could easily be a top-ranking site. The overall impression was generally a very good one.
O’Connor Square: Grade A. All aspects of this town centre environment were in very good order e.g. attractive pavement pattern, tree planting, bicycle parking, seating, planter boxes – it was excellent with regards to litter. And not a litter bin in sight. The area was a template for a Grade A site.
Arden Approach Road: Grade B+. As well as the occasionally scattered litter items, there was litter at the improvised ‘lay-bys’ – mostly freshly discarded sweet wrappers and old plastic bottles.
R421 Birr Road Exit: Grade B+: The area closer to the town was litter free, it was just the outskirts, near the Circle K garage, where mineral cans and sweet wrappers were present along the pavement. Columcille Street: Grade A. The paving / stainless steel bollards / large planter boxes / etc looked very well. The street bins provided the opportunity to ‘separate’ waste into recycling. The overall impression along Columcille Street was an excellent one – welcoming and well attended.
Shane Murray, Chair of Tullamore Tidy Towns Association said ''Litter levels in Tullamore have dropped since the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme. There were overall lower litter levels when compared to last year as the Tidy Town group have stepped up their work schedule every Wednesday and early on Sunday morning as well as a lot of volunteers who adopt an area. Companies such as Zoetis who do a litter pick once a month with us, have helped hugely in our battle against litter,'' said Shane.
''The Tidy Towns group has flagged that the town centre has improved with the planting and hopefully we can add to this next year,'' he added.
''Coffee cups and dashboard dinning are the big problems on the bypass and approach roads,
The most common piece of rubbish in the town center is cigarette butts,'' which the Shane said remains “stubbornly high”. ''We need business owners to be the leaders in tackling this problem, if everyone sweeps outside their own patch, we won't have the problem of cigarettes butts in the future.
Tullamore now ranks 19 out of 40 in the IBAL rankings which were just released. That is up from last year's 23 out of 40. "A lot done, more to do" he says!