COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

MOTION NO. 14

MOTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

That this Area Committee requests the Manager, in line with the County Litter Management Plan, to present an operational plan to address litter black-spots in Lucan South and to further provide SDCC staff-support to lead the establishment of a Lucan South Tidy Towns initiative for 2012.

REPORT:

As part of the current years work and included in the Litter Management Plan is a number of operations and campaigns aimed at reducing the level of littering in the county thereby reducing the resource required to clear up after  the offenders.

The litter management programme for the area is summarised as follows:

• Dedicated cleansing staff inspect areas where littering and dumping occur on a regular basis and arrange for prompt removal of same
• Dedicated litter warden for the Lucan area with specific duties to target the area through routine daily patrols and inspections, including on weekends
• Road sweeping and gulley cleaning provided by contract on a scheduled basis
• Continued expansion of the network of litter bins in this area
• Additional resources regularly deployed to these areas by the Operations Unit Management as required. These resources undertake litter picking of public open spaces and within residential areas.

There are also several initiatives geared towards individual, organisational and community involvement in tackling litter problems and the Council's Environmental Department is continuing to work on approaches which engage the communities in a positive way with their environment. These initiatives include the Community Clean Up guidelines and Social Credits scheme. The Community Clean Up Guidelines provide cleaning equipment (bags, gloves, litter pickers, brushes) to the communities for undertaking the works and the Cleansing Section collect the bagged waste and dispose of the material in a responsible manner. During recent budget processes, there has been an emphasis on targeting resources to maximise impact and the development of an approach which acknowledges the works undertaken by individuals and groups and encourages them to continue their work.  It should be noted that the Council does not propose to lead this Tidy Towns initiative, but will assist it in the same way as it provides assistance to the Lucan Tidy Towns Group.