COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
MOTION NO. 17
MOTION: Councillor W. Lavelle
That this Committee requests the Manager to present a detailed report, for discussion, on the activities of the Operations Crew in litter cleansing in the Lucan area since the start of the year, the litter black-spots identified for cleansing by the crew and the dates on which these black-spots were cleansed.
REPORT:
South Dublin County Council ceased refuse collections on 1 April 2011. On Monday 4 April 2011 a total of 55 staff which included an area engineer, clerical officer, one foreman, an assistant foreman and 51 general staff were all redeployed to the new Operations Section of the Environmental Services Department. During the course of 2011, the work programme for the Operations Section was drawn from requests by litter wardens, public representatives, Council Departments and members of the public through the customer contact system to have problem areas around the County cleaned up.
The Environmental Services Department is currently introducing a system of scheduled cleaning that will include all areas of the County. The schedule is based on the Road Sweeping Programme; crews will be assigned to areas between scheduled sweeps by the Road Sweeping Contractor. This schedule will assign a priority to each area, which will reflect the frequency of cleaning required in the area.
In the Lucan Area the following areas were cleaned by the crews on the 20th February 2012.
| Area | Date | Weight of material collected |
| Castle Riada Estate | 20 th February | 360 kgs |
| Moy Glas Estate | 20 th February | 1,280 kgs |
| Foxborough estate | 20 th February | 340 kgs |
| Castle Road (From School to Ballyowen Road) | 20 th February | 220 kgs |
| Rochfort Estate/Colthurst Estate | 20 th February | 100 kgs |
| Earlsfort Estate | 20 th February | 600 kgs |
| Cherbury Park Footbridge | 20 th February | 240 kgs |
In the Lucan Area the following areas were cleaned by the crews on the 13th February 2012
| Area | Date | Weight of material collected |
| Ashfield, Berryfield, Elderberry, Woodberry Finnswalk, Finnsgrove, Finns View, Finns Vale | 13 th February | 220 kgs |
| Finnstown Cloisters | 13 th February | 500 kgs |
| Johnsbridge Estate Westbury | 13th February | 140 kgs |
The supervisors inspect the areas that are subject to general littering such as paper, plastic bottles, food wrappers and crews undertake a general litter pick of the area. Some of this waste originates from bins that are abandoned or not collected and the loose material is then transported by the wind into planted areas and green spaces. Individuals discard other material as they travelled through the area
Fly tipping of domestic waste bags abandoned in laneways and deposited into the planting/hedging on the open spaces is a more serious problem. Some of this waste is burnt, and requires mechanical intervention in its removal. The burning of the waste destroys the surrounding vegetation leaving landscaping scarred and unsightly.
The number of general staff in the operations section dropped from 50 to 40 during the course of 2011, following the retirement of 7 staff and the redeployment of 3 drivers to fill critical vacancies in the water maintenance section.