COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
MOTION NO. 7
MOTION: Councillor T. Gilligan
That the Manager brings a monthly headed item report on Tidy Towns items each month to the Clondalkin Area Committee Meeting.
REPORT:
The national Tidy Towns competition is in its 55th year and in 2012 had 855 entries from cities, towns and villages throughout Ireland. The competition is a community based initiative with a primary aim of improving the local environment. Volunteers give of their time and energy to develop their local area and work towards making a real difference to their place. The competition develops a sense of place and pride.
Guidelines from the Tidy Towns unit state:-
“Right from the start, the primary focus of TidyTowns was to encourage communities to improve their local environment and make their area a better place to live, work and visit. The competition aspect was an important element in developing friendly rivalry that would help boost standards across the board” and “The competition is a catalyst for a huge amount of voluntary effort in towns and villages across the country and the effort of hundreds of TidyTowns committees and tens of thousands of volunteers not only improves the environment in which we live but also helps to build pride in our communities.”
South Dublin County Council has supported the development of the Tidy Towns in the County in many ways.
· The organisation of County wide public Tidy Towns meetings and local meetings in towns and villages throughout the County
· Support of community clean ups through the Social credits system
· Attendance at regular meetings and feedback on various issues raised by the groups
· The establishment of a countywide Tidy Towns network group
· Follow up on items raised
· Publication and promotion of Area Maintenance Schedule with details of litter picking, street sweeping and gully cleaning. Other additional service will be included in this schedule such as grass cutting and tree work.
· The development of a villages initiatives to support and revitalise villages in the county
The Council supports the Tidy Towns groups throughout the County and will continue to work closely with them to help in the achievement of their goals as laid out in the Tidy Towns plans. Success in the Tidy Towns programme is based on community led initiative with assistance from all the local and relevant national agencies including the local authority. It is critically important to the success of groups in the competition that they are seen to be taking the initiative and driving forward themselves and not overly relying on the local authority. The Clondalkin Group are an tremendous example of the approach that is necessary from any group and the Council must be mindful that their enthusiasm and independence is clear to all. The approach to providing support of setting up links, support mechanisms and agreeing works taken by the Council is the appropriate way for this to happen.
The Tidy Towns movement is supported by many agencies but is apolitical in its nature therefore it is not deemed appropriate to include Tidy towns as a headed item on the Clondalkin Area Committee Meeting.
This Council will continue to support and promote Tidy Towns in order to encourage communities make a real difference to their place. The achievements of the Clondalkin Tidy Towns group since its establishment last year indicates the power of community initiative.