War on litter: more wardens, more bins

War is declared on litter louts and fly by dumpers as Mullingar smartens up for a bumper outdoor summer and dress rehearsal for next year’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. More wardens, more prosecutions, more bins and bigger bins, are the weapons of choice of local councillors.

A new environmental officer is starting this month, a third community warden is being appointed and a seasonal warden to work weekends enforcing on the spot litter fines will be appointed, director of services, Deirdre Reilly, revealed at the June meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad.

Rubbish collection is costing the council between half and three quarters of a million euro annually, according to members of the council, while fines for dumping at bring banks last year totalled €1,650, they were told.

Members asked that litter wardens be given “teeth” to enforce the laws and that more bins and bin collections be provided.

This is “a dry run” for next year’s fleadh when people will be coming to the town from all over, the mayor of Mullingar, Cllr Aoife Davitt, reminded local councillors at their June meeting. She called for more bins and more picnic benches in places like the Mullingar Town Park.

Cllr Mick Dollard argued that a full time staff member would be needed to police the town park if picnic benches were reinstated there: “It sounds great, but we need to think twice,” he warned.

Fines for dumping at bring banks last year were €1,650, Cllr Dollard was told in reply to a question. He said staff and students at St Coleman’s National School, Mullingar, have difficulty getting into the school after the weekends because of the amount of rubbish left at the bottle bank there. He said that there is a camera at that site and pressed for enforcement of the law, but remarked that the total collected in fines “is very revealing”.

Green Party councillor, Hazel Smyth, called for extra litter wardens and more CCTV cameras. She said there had been a huge increase in outdoor activities of late and this had generated a lot of rubbish and litter. She called for more portable toilets in outdoor dining areas and at amenity sites and asked businesses to operate a deposit returns system for plastic cups.

Not just more bins, but more strategically positioned bins are what’s needed, according to Cllr Ken Glynn, who spoke of having to carry his rubbish for miles to the nearest bin on the greenway.

Cllr Emily Wallace argued that there was a desperate need for more bins in areas where people eat.

“If the bin is full do I have to put my refuse in my handbag? This is a test run for the fleadh. Put out more bins and give wardens teeth to tackle the problem.”

She said we know people are going to eat outside and it is unfair to expect council staff and Tidy Towns volunteers to clean up. She called for reverse vending machines that would give money back on returned cups or bottles.

Street bins in Mullingar are permanently full and bags of household rubbish are being dumped beside them, reported Cllr Bill Collentine “It happened in Dominick Street this morning,” he said. “We will have to find out who is responsible or we’ll have no empty bins.” He claimed that bigger bins or more frequent collection were needed.

The same is happening in the north of the county, according to Cllrs Paddy Hill and Frank McDermott. Cllr Hill said people are putting household rubbish in public bins late at night and others are dumping their rubbish on the roadside.

“It’s an offence to peg a cigarette butt on the side of the road,” said Cllr Hill who urged that the litter laws be enforced.

Cllr Hill and Cllr McDermott told of a “half lorry load” of household rubbish dumped near the civic offices in Castlepollard recently.

“Prosecute or we are wasting our time talking about it,” said Cllr Hill while Cllr McDermott suggested that with cameras at that location are a perfect opportunity to prosecute.

Cllr McDermott believes that the more bins there are, the more rubbish there will be, while Cllr Hill said everyone should bring their rubbish with them.

“Why the hell should I pay for someone pegging their rubbish all over the place? If I go out for a meal, I will bring home my rubbish and I encourage everyone else to do so.”

Cllr McDermott applauded council staff for their magnificent efforts and said he was “very proud of their work in north Westmeath”.

Name and shame, declared Cllr Denis Leonard. He called for heavier fines, stricter enforcement and more cameras to catch the culprits and begrudged the waste of half a million euro a year on collecting litter left by 10% of the population, money that could be better spent on improving amenities.]

Cllr Davitt asked if staff could be re-deployed over the summer months to deal with the extra work load of collecting rubbish. In response to members, Ms Reilly said she was not aware of the €59,000 allocation referred to by Cllr Smyth, but told members to “rest assured that the council would do all it could to facilitate an outdoor summer”.

She said a new environmental officer is starting this month, another community warden is to join the existing two wardens and the council has advertised for a seasonal warden to work weekends to enforce on the spot litter fines.

Ms Reilly assured the members that the executive had taken on board a lot of their suggestions and they are ramping up for an outdoor summer.

She did not believe, however, that more bins were the answer as people will only use them for their household waste. Portable toilets have been provided at Portnashangan, the sailing club, Ladestown and other such amenities.

Council staff are working long hours in association with the public to reduce litter and increase public awareness. The council had upped its resources in respect of bin collections, but greater public co-operation is needed – for instance, fold up your pizza box before shoving it in the street bin, Ms Reilly said.