COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, October 14, 2019
QUESTION NO. 7
QUESTION: Councillor Teresa Costello
To ask the Chief Executive will SDCC be meeting with community representatives well in advance of Halloween so they can voice their concerns and be assisted by SDCC in minimising damage caused by bonfires and anti social behaviour
REPLY:
The Council has always recognised the difficulties that Halloween causes for many communities through the illegal burning of waste on Halloween bonfires, the damage to local amenities, anti- social behaviour and the threat to property and local services.
As in previous years, the Council will adopt a cross departmental approach, utilising the services of Public Realm, Waste Enforcement, Environmental Awareness, the Library Service, Housing and Community Services Departments to prevent damage and promote the 'Safe Halloween' message.
The Council's Halloween Safety and Environmental Awareness Campaign will be launched shortly and includes the publication of a colourful information leaflet providing facts and tips on how to stay safe at Halloween. The leaflet will also contain details of the various family events to be hosted/funded by the Council over the Halloween Period.
All available resources will be deployed to the preventative collections of bonfire materials prior to this Halloween, crews will be assigned to this task as necessary during normal working hours but also at weekends and on the run up to the 31st October.
Early contact will be made to ensure that information is exchanged between the Council and An Garda Síochána and that assistance is provided as necessary in the effort to locate and remove the threat associated with bonfires and the storage of bonfire materials. Priority will again be given to the removal of material located beside or very close to houses, park facilities such as playgrounds and pavilions, under /overhead services such as power lines, and on main traffic routes (roads/ verges) where a threat may arise to traffic and where the Council are requested to take action by the Gardaí.
The Council's operational response to Halloween in 2019 will once again involve the following -
- Liaison with residents’ groups, who can help to identify the locations of material stockpiled
- Various awareness measures to highlight the dangers associated with bonfires and the harm done to the environment including a social media campaign
- Action by the Council's Environmental Licensing and Enforcement Section to deal with commercial premises and their obligations to properly store their waste
- The Bulbs not Bonfires campaign will run again this year to encourage residents not to allow bonfires to take place in their areas
- The social credits scheme facilitates groups who are registered on the scheme with the disposal of materials at the Council's civic amenity site in Ballymount, and this will help to reduce the amount of materials being handed over for bonfires.