This article is from page 16 of the 2010-01-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
ENNIS’S reputation as one of the cleanest towns in Ireland took a hit yesterday when it tumbled 42 places in the latest Irish Business Against Piro mOlsyaN Relais
Ennis was listed in second place in last June’s survey but has since fallen to 46th position, from a sta- tus of ‘clean to European norms’ to ‘moderately littered’ in IBAL’s final results for 2009. Shannon has leap- frogged Ennis to become Clare’s ti- diest town, according to IBAL.
Shannon rose to 20th place and 1s described in the report as “Clean to European Norms’.
IBAL’s report for Shannon stated: “Half of the sites surveyed in Shan- non were clean to European norms, with the remainder ‘moderately lit- tered’. Some of the top ranking sites included Ballycasey Business Park, Bothar Mor approach and Bothar an Aerphort approach. Newmarket-on -Fergus road approach just missed getting the top litter grade. The town centre was moderately littered and care needs to be taken to ensure it doesn’t deteriorate.
The report looked at ten areas in Ennis and was particularly critical of the town’s approach roads.
The report stated, “There has been a very significant drop in the per- formance at Ennis since our previ- ous survey. Being clean is a 365-day responsibility for the local authority. Five of the sites surveyed in Ennis were clean to European norms but it was let down by two very poor sites – the Department of Social Welfare was a litter blackspot – clearly it has been completely neglected for quite Se) seem BDO tome
The report added, “The link road at
Citroen / Camus Garage to Cahercal- la Road had a serious litter problem – it was the worst of all the approach routes which were surveyed coming into Ennis.”
However, speaking yesterday, May- or of Ennis, Frankie Neylon (Ind) rejected IBAL’s assessment, saying IBAL should look at Ennis’s track record in Tidy Towns competition.
Town Clerk, Eddie Power told yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town
Council that half of the areas sur- veyed in Ennis were found to be clean to European norms.
“It’s hard to accept their comments because they don’t stand up to scru- tiny,” he said.
However, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said Ennis’s fall illustrated a “real credibility” in IBAL’s ratings sys- c0e8
He said the council should look at the survey as constructive criticism.
He told the meeting that approach roads to Ennis are “a mess of rub- bish”’.
“Anybody who walks around Ennis will see that. It’s people who are go- ing around and dumping rubbish. It’s a substantial problem,” he said
Cllr Meaney praised the work done by the council’s environmental war- dens and added that it was “vital we identify the wholesale dumping of rubbish by an underclass’. He said
people who engage in illegal dump- ing should receive jail sentences.