COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
MOTION NO. 5
MOTION: Councillor G. O'Connell
Cathaoirleach's Business
That the Manager provide a report on the recent Halloween "Celebrations" in the Palmerston / Lucan areas and that a discussion take place on the impact of the Council's Halloween policy with the objective of developing a more achievable plan of campaign involving community groups and eliminating the current anomaly whereby bonfires are illegal but in practice both the Gardaí and the Council adopt a damage limitation approach instead of prevention.
REPORT:
The Council takes a proactive approach to reducing the number of bonfires occurring at Halloween. The results of the efforts have seen a reduction of bonfire numbers from 523 in 2009 to 351 in 2011 (a 33% reduction on the 2009 figure). This reduction has been made possible by the initiatives undertaken in recent years as described below:
1. In order to divert household material being used on bonfires, free access to all residents of the County to the Civic Amenity, Ballymount was arranged on 29th October. This was a success with 181.12 tonnes of material deposited compared to an average Saturday of 56.3 tonnes. The main waste type was bulky waste i.e. furniture and large items which could have been used in bonfires in the county. People were admitted free of charge with bulky waste on the presentation of a leaflet which was delivered to their homes.
2. Clondalkin Community Recycling Initiative arranged door to door collections of WEEE Waste Electrical & Electronic – Over 80 tonnes of material was collected prior to Halloween.
3. There were two bonfires organised by the Council in Neilstown and Fettercairn. The organised bonfires have been running for a number of years and while there was some success in reducing bonfire numbers in the early years this has subsequently declined.
4. Other initiatives which took place throughout the period included Bulbs not Bonfires, Hallowfest and a Spooky Walk in Corkagh Park.
The co-operation of Community Organisations and local people contributes substantially to reducing the bonfires and it is proposed to continue working with these groups to explore new avenues for bonfire prevention.