COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, January 13, 2020
QUESTION NO.12
QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor
To ask the Chief Executive to confirm his Litter Management Plans 2020 noting the concerns of many that Litter and Graffiti remain a major problem throughout our County; will he give assurances in the matter and make a statement.
REPLY:
Dumping, Litter and Graffiti is managed in accordance with the provisions of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 as amended and Annual Action Plans developed as part of the Litter Management Plan.
The current LMP has been reviewed and a Draft Litter Management Plan for the period 2020-2024 has been published for public consultation with the final date for receipt of submissions or observations being Tuesday 7th January 2020
There is a three-strand approach to managing these issues under the existing and draft plans as follows:
- Enforcement & Licensing
- Management and maintenance of the public realm
- Communication, education and awareness
Initiatives in 2019 included but were not limited to the following:
- Planned / Scheduled public realm works including scheduled and reactive clean-ups
- Village cleansing
- Road sweeping
- Litter Bin provision and replacement
- Anti-Dumping Grant applications to DCCAE via WERLA
- Education and awareness programmes
- Anti Dog Foul campaigns - cinema and radio advertisements / dog foul bags / green dog walker promo
- Social Credits Scheme - Landscaping projects / community clean-ups supports / Small Paint Schemes
- Dublin Canvas Project
- Graffiti removal
- Litter Warden Patrols - Fixed Penalty Notices
- Use of CCTV/ emerging technologies - Drones
All these measures are aimed at improving the aesthetic appearance of our county in the interest of improving quality of life and our economic development potential. It is expected that these and other initiatives will continue in 2020 and as part of the new LMP when adopted.
Significant improvements have been achieved in this area which have been reflected in IBAL and Tidy Towns reports, and once again the Council is very appreciative of the community and voluntary efforts that are made alongside the Council’s work to bring about these positive changes.
All incidents of illegal dumping reported or detected in any area are investigated by the Council's Litter Warden Service and all dumped material is searched for evidence. Where evidence is found, the appropriate enforcement action is taken under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended. Increasingly, it is found that no personal information relating to polluters is contained within the dumped material, with personal information having been removed or shredded.
As part of the Council's commitment to deliver on the objectives of the Corporate Plan and Litter Management Plan, there has been an increased targeted focus on known litter generator areas. Similarly, there has been a raised visibility of our Warden Service through branded vehicles, and several structured routes have been identified for continuous patrol, as well as ad hoc patrols and investigations as required.
As always, the Council is grateful for assistance and support from residents or others in their investigations of such incidents as they arise. In the absence of substantive evidence / witness statements and the presence of such witnesses in court it is not possible for us to bring successful prosecutions.