COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF LUCAN / PALMERSTOWN / NORTH CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

MOTION NO. 6

MOTION: Councillor P. Gogarty

That the Council carries out a cleansing, litter picking and enforcement blitz along the public walkways, roadways and verges indicated in the attached map, with a particular focus on clearing embedded dog dirt, tidying up dumped material and litter blown into blackspots and identifying new areas for bins. Notwithstanding that all parts of our county have problems brought to our attention, a considerable number of complaints have come in at the same time in relation to these approach roads to several local schools and a focused approach, along with a visible presence for a period may assist in improving the area for local residents, many of whom do regular clean-ups in their immediate vicinities, but who cannot cover the entire space.

REPORT:

The roads indicated on the attached map are Castle Road from the junction of R113 to Earlsfort Estate and Balgaddy Road from Castle Road to Foxborough roundabout. Both roads are cleaned are part of the Councils Roads Sweeping contract which is currently held by Oxigen. Both roads are classed as main roads and are therefore cleaned monthly. The roads were last cleaned on the week beginning 7th February and are scheduled to be cleaned next on the week beginning 7th March. The cleaning operation includes a litter pick of the grass verges and footpath along the roads.

A review of bin provision in the area was carried out and there are bins located as follows:

In addition to these Public Realm bins there are 6 bins located at the shops in Ross Court which address litter issues prior to it ending up on Castle Road.

Section 22 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended (the Act), states that ....."the person in charge of a dog is subject to a fine or prosecution if he/she does not immediately remove any faeces deposited by their dog in certain places, and/or if that person fails to ensure that the dog litter is properly disposed of in a suitable sanitary manner".

The difficulty with enforcement of Section 22 is the requirement for witness testimony, to report that the offence happened and that an identified person is the person in charge of the dog.  The Council continues to encourage residents groups and/or individuals to assist the Warden Service in this regard.

SDCC have continued to raise awareness of the issue of Dog fouling and has mounted a number of campaigns on radio, newspapers and on social media in that regard.

The Green Dog Walkers Programme is a non-confrontational, friendly way to change people's attitudes about dog fouling.  It is a community based scheme which volunteers in the community can adopt and promote in their own area.  Members of the public can apply through Social Credits at www.socialcredits.ie 

Volunteers who become Green Dog Walkers are provided with an armband and bone shaped bag dispenser and commit to the following -