COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

QUESTION NO. 2

QUESTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

"To ask the Chief Executive to outline plans to enhance CCTV monitoring of the bring-banks at Ballyowen Castle; and to further provide ‘stills’ from the existing CCTV cameras which could act used as a warning and deterrent to those minded to illegally- dump at this location?"

REPLY:

The presence of the bring banks at Ballyowen Shopping Centre has thrown up some very difficult challenges.  These include balancing the need to provide citizens with the opportunity to recycle, while trying to manage the problem of illegal dumping which has been a feature at this location.  

This location has been the subject of much discussion between Council officials, Elected Members and site owner over a period of time.  A meeting was convened in Autumn 20l3 with the Manager of Super Value, Ballyowen Shopping Centre, in relation to the ongoing problems of illegal dumping in the vicinity of the bring banks. Following on from that meeting, the bring banks were re-positioned in an effort to limit the opportunity for illegal dumping.   Meetings were also held in recent months.

The area is monitored by CCTV and while the Council has, in the past, secured evidence to prosecute, pursuant to the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended, the quality of footage from CCTV in recent times has not been sufficient to pursue further prosecution. 

The extensive use of these facilities is acknowledged and the Council is appreciative of the owners of Ballyowen Shopping Centre for use of the location.   Given the difficulties that has been experienced in relation to cleanliness at the location, the Council has reviewed the cleansing programme and has enhanced the cleansing arrangement to three times per week ie Mondays, Wednesdays (additional) and Fridays. 

Costings were sought and received for significantly enhanced surveillance and monitoring systems for this location, but these were “put on hold” on foot of communications on behalf of the site owner notifying of intention to withdraw use of this location.  On foot of collective revised arrangements the owner has indicated that it is not now proposed to withdraw use of this location.  

The Council's draft Litter Management Plan commits to examining options for surveillance to reduce incidences of littering and dog fouling. To this end, the Council has carried out extensive research to identify more effective methods of controlling littering and dumping in the County in general  (and particularly at this location), which includes higher specification CCTV systems and Programmable Audio Message Devices as a preventative solution.

It is our intention to install an Audio Device at this location in the first instance, and to monitor effectiveness of this system before considering installation of the update CCTV.

As mentioned above the quality of footage from CCTV in recent times has not been sufficient to pursue further prosecution and therefore it is not proposed to provide stills from the existing camera.