COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, October 12, 2020
QUESTION NO.23
QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor
To ask the CEO what plans are now in place to deal with the challenge of the forthcoming Bonfire season; will he appreciate the need to protect our Open Spaces and will he detail what arrangements are in place to clear Bonfire sites particularly on Halloween Day and will he also state what proposals he has to get across a positive message on the whole issue and will he make a statement? Charlie O'Connor
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, and the threat to property and local services. In line with previous years the Council will adopt a cross departmental approach, utilising the services of Public Realm, Waste Enforcement, Environmental Awareness, Library Service and Housing and Community Services Departments to prevent damage and promote the “Safe Halloween” message. The Council's response to Halloween in 2020 will involve the following:
- Various awareness measures to highlight the dangers associated with bonfires and the harm done to the environment,
- Action by the Council's Environmental Licensing and Enforcement Section to deal with commercial premises and their obligations to properly store their waste including aerial surveys,
- The Public Realm response to remove stockpiles of bonfire materials will has already commenced and will continue through the month of October,
- Liaison with An Garda Siochana has already commenced, to exchange information regarding action being taken by them and by the Council in relation to stockpiling of bonfire materials and all related issues,
- Liaison with local residents groups who can help to identify the locations of material stockpiles,
- Implementation of the ‘bulbs not bonfires’ scheme,
- The Council intends running a mattress 'amnesty' scheme again this year, this will be done in advance of Halloween and will be run on the Council's behalf by RecycleIT,
- The social credits scheme will once again facilitate 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.
The situation regarding Covid 19 restrictions is expected to cause additional difficulties this year and there is much uncertainty around what is likely to transpire over the coming weeks and at Halloween itself. The Gardai have informed the Council that they are unable to visit schools this year to promote a safe Halloween message, as would have happened in previous years. The same difficulties arise in relation to Council staff visiting schools. The promotion of a safe Halloween message will therefore rely heavily this year on the use of social media.
The October bank holiday is on Monday October 26th with Halloween on the following Saturday October 31st. It is expected that schools will be closed for the week in between these dates and Council staff will be on high alert during this period. Council staff will be on duty over both weekends collecting and removing bonfire stockpiles that have been reported, with the asistance of the Gardai where necessary. In 2019 a total of 585 tonnes of bonfire related waste was collected, with 237 tonnes of this collected before it reached a bonfire. The Council hopes to maximise the quantity of material intercepted before it reaches a bonfire and this depends very much on the provision of information by local residents with regard to the location of material stockpiles. Such information can be submitted to the Council by telephone 01-4149000 or by email publicrealm@sdublincoco.ie