Budget cutbacks to reverse big gains in anti-litter drive
SERIOUS cutbacks on weekend street cleaning by councils could wipe out recent improvements in litter levels across the country.
Close to 70pc of towns and cities are now classed as "litter free", yet two blackspots remain, in Mallow, Co Cork, and Athlone, Co Westmeath.
The Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) group fears the vast drop in litter may now be jeopardised this summer as a result of cutbacks.
The result of slashed cleaning budgets was recently highlighted by the tonnes of unsightly rubbish left uncollected on many popular beaches over the bank holiday weekend due to council cutbacks.
"We fear a deterioration over the summer as weekend cleaning budgets get slashed in many areas," Dr Tom Cavanagh, chair of IBAL, said.
"We saw over the June bank holiday weekend how beaches were seriously affected by the lack of weekend cleaning, and it is quite evident in this survey with beaches in Buncrana and Tramore being classed as 'seriously littered'."
Record
Wexford town is the cleanest place in the country, followed closely by Ennis, Co Clare.
The number of areas classed "litter free" hit a record high of 41 among 60 towns and cities surveyed by An Taisce for the IBAL report.
However, the litter watchdog pointed out that cities did not appear to be cracking down as hard on litter in comparison with towns.
"Litter is an area of spend where any cuts will be immediately visible in littered pavements, parks and beaches," Dr Cavanagh said.
IBAL estimates councils may be saving as much as €750 a week by slashing weekend cleaning budgets. He warned this could be enough to "undo the good work" done in towns as the peak tourist season kicks off.
John Power, chief executive of the Irish Hotels Federation, said the recent cuts to weekend cleaning and litter collection, especially at visitor attractions, could threaten visitor satisfaction.
Cities did not appear to be showing much improvement in litter levels over the past year.
Galway was found to be "moderately littered", while Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford were all graded as "littered".
The worst site was found in Athlone, Co Westmeath, near the Kilmartin N6 roundabout.
Surveyors claimed it was "being used as a dump" and described it as an "eyesore".
In Mallow, it was reported the Tesco car park was the most littered site in the Co Cork town.
Supermarket car parks in general were found to be "magnets" for litter, while train stations had shown great improvements.
- Louise Hogan
