Cuts to council cleaning spend a false economy, claims survey

COUNCILS ARE saving an estimated €750 a week by cutting weekend cleaning budgets but it is a false economy, according to Irish Business Against Litter (Ibal).

It emerged that 41 towns out of 60 towns and cities surveyed were classed as “litter free” or “Clean to European Norms” in the group’s first survey of 2009, carried out by the heritage body An Taisce every three to four months.

The survey reveals Wexford as Ireland’s cleanest town and Athlone, Co Westmeath, the dirtiest.

Mallow, Co Cork is classed with Athlone as a “litter blackspot” while Arklow, Co Wicklow, is “seriously littered” as are the beaches at Buncrana, Co Donegal, and Tramore, Co Waterford.

Athlone, however, is the worst in the entire league. An area near the Kilmartin N6 roundabout, used as a dump, was “the most heavily littered site surveyed” and an “eyesore and a health hazard”.

The approach roads in Athlone were heavily littered, with the Dublin approach road in a “terrible state”. The Roscommon approach road had a “long-term build-up of litter” and the Tuam approach road was “another very, very poor site”.

Supermarket car parks were cited as “magnets” for litter in different towns while the Tesco car park in Mallow was the most heavily littered site in town, according to An Taisce inspectors.

Ibal has warned of a potential serious deterioration over the summer in towns because councils have slashed their cleaning budgets.

“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’, ” said Dr Tom Cavanagh, chairman of Ibal.

The organisation estimates that councils are making an average saving of €750 a week by reducing their weekend cleaning budgets.

Dr Cavanagh said this is a false economy. “Litter is one area of spend where any cuts will be immediately visible, in littered pavements, parks and beaches. Set against the . . . time and money which local hotels and shops have invested in tourism over the past decade, these cuts are small but they are enough to undo the good work done in any town.”

Cities have not improved much since last year, according to the survey with Galway best at “moderately littered” while Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford are all graded as “littered”.