COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, November 08, 2010
QUESTION NO. 6
QUESTION: Councillor D. Keating
That the Manager would report on the Halloween 2010 related activities including:
- The number of bonfires reported in the South Dublin area
- A report on the volumes of materials gathered in South Dublin
- The approximate cost if reinstatements were to take place in all public places where damages occurred
- The number of emergency calls reported in South Dublin, including the Gardaí and Fire and Ambulance Fire Services
REPLY:
Information on the cost of Halloween is being compiled at this stage and the location, size and cost of each bonfire will be recorded and mapped following Halloween. This information will provide a very precise picture of the number of bonfires, the damage caused as a result and the overall cost of the cleanup. Material left after bonfires will be removed and disposed of however there will be no reinstatement of damaged area this year. Last year 2009 the cost of the disposal of material was €100,000, the budget has been reduced by 50% in 2010. Measures to divert the amount of material provided for bonfire this year includes free access to the Civic amenity, Ballymount on Saturday 30th October for South Dublin County Council's customers only with their waste charges card, targeted WEEE collections and the Bulbs not Bonfires scheme.
The Council has worked closely with other agencies in the County - Gardai and Fire Services prior to Halloween and there will be a collation of all the calls made during this period and a review of all the initatives after Halloween and this will be reported to the Council.
At this stage however there are a number of updates under the Halloween Bulbs not Bonfires Programme:-
A series of advance planning meetings involving the Environment, Parks and Housing Departments in conjunction with the Gardai took place
The normal practice of identifying and removing illegally dumped material, likely bound for halloween bonfires, were removed by staff in the run-up to halloween
The CCRI WEEE Collectons took place throughout the county though some WEEE was still seized during the Sunday clear-out
On the Halloween Sunday squads of Parks and Cleansing Staff seized materials from areas where reports were received and where the Gardai and the squads could find materials
The "Spooky Walk" in Corkagh Park attracted considerable attendance
The free access to Ballymount yielded 163 ton of waste compared with the average Saturday tonnage of 66
Two organised Bonfires took place - North Clondalkin at Letts field and West Tallaght at Butler McKee Park
From preliminary reports it appears that there were less bonfires and that more spaces were kept bonfire free. There was a substantial amount of co-operation from local communities in protecting their green spaces as part of the intiative and a full report will be made available when all data has been collated.