COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF LUCAN / PALMERSTOWN / NORTH CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
QUESTION NO. 6
QUESTION: Councillor Alan Hayes
To ask the manager what steps are being taken to prevent bonfires being lit on playing pitches in the run up the Halloween period. Will there be any increase in Council activity compared to last year.
REPLY:
The Council recognises 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 response to Halloween in recent years the Council has adopted a cross departmental approach utilising the services of Public Realm, Waste Enforcement, Environmental Awareness, Library Services, Housing and Community Services Departments to prevent damage and promote the “Safe Halloween” message. The Council's response to Halloween in 2022 will involve the following elements as it has done in other recent years:
- Various awareness measures to highlight the dangers associated with bonfires and the harm done to the environment.
- Funding of community-based activities which are intended to divert children away from bonfires and other anti-social behaviour.
- Action by the Council's Environmental Licensing and Enforcement Section to deal with commercial premises and their obligations to properly store their waste including waste tyres and pallets (including aerial surveys of premises where necessary).
- The Public Realm response to remove stockpiles of bonfire materials has commenced and will continue throughout September and October and will intensify as Halloween approaches.
- The Public Realm Section will have operational staff on duty over the bank holiday weekend and the Halloween weekend collecting bonfire materials, in 2021 these collections captured in the region of 332 tonnes of materials and diverted it away from bonfires.
- Liaison with An Garda Siochana with regard to action being taken by them and by the Council in relation to this matter.
- Liaison with local residents’ groups who can help to identify the locations of material stockpiles.
- Implementation of the ‘bulbs not bonfires’ scheme which is a reward provided through South Dublin County Council’s Social Credit Scheme. This initiative provides communities with flowers in the Spring instead of scarred open space throughout the year. In recent years the Council has spent approximately €2,500 per year on bulbs for this popular scheme and it is envisaged that a similar sum will be spent again this year on the scheme.
- 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.
- Provision has been made in the 2022 revenue budget for the holding of a community Halloween event in Tallaght Stadium this year.
Electrical Recycling Collections for Halloween
RecycleIT, in association with South Dublin Country Council and in partnership with WEEE Ireland hosted a series of free door to door electrical recycling collection days in residential areas across South Dublin prior to Halloween in both 2020 and 2021. These collection days are now annual events and help ensure hazardous electrical equipment and batteries don’t find their way onto seasonal Bonfires. This scheme helps residents to recycle all types of electrical, electronic and battery-operated equipment including old heaters, electronic toys, TV’s, washing machines, cookers, kettles, phones and computers, and any other item with a plug or battery (including batteries).
Recycle IT is very happy to work with community groups and resident’s associations to arrange free electrical recycling collections in September and October and throughout the year. Groups can call 01 4578321 or email info@recycleit.ie to learn more and take the first steps to arranging a FREE collection event for your estate or neighbourhood.
Mattress Recycling
The Council is running a mattress amnesty again this year during the month of October, in conjunction with our social enterprise partners RecycleIT. Used mattresses will be collected, free of charge, at a number of designated collection points on dates during the course of October. This event ran very successfully in 2021 with close to 1,000 used mattresses collected.
The Bulbs not Bonfires Scheme continues to run annually as part of the Council's response to issues arising at Halloween. This is part of the wider Social Credits Scheme which is operated by the Council's Environmental Awareness Section. In response to the suggestion here, and to similar requests received, consideration is being given to changing the type of bulb provided to participants in the scheme. To date the Council has issued daffodil bulbs only and these can continue to be provided to community groups who request these. Where a group requests pollinator friendly bulbs it is proposed that crocus, muscari, snowdrop, allium and other bulbs can be supplied. The Council policy is to map areas of biodiverse planting and in time this mapped information will be made available to the public. The assistance of community groups who plant such areas will be requested in this mapping process, so that the Council's grass cutting programme can be organised to work around the areas which are planted by community groups. For more information please contact the office at envawareness@sdublincoco.ie
One change that occurred in both 2020 and 2021 was that due to Covid 19 restrictions the Gardai and the Council's environmental awareness staff were unable to visit schools to speak directly to students about the dangers associated with Halloween, and this led to these messages being promoted through social media. It is expected that it will be possible for those school visits to resume this year as all Covid restrictions have been lifted.
A total of 180 bonfire sites were recorded around the County in 2021 and this was a substantial reduction from the 280 sites recorded in 2020. There were a number of factors to which the reduction can be attributed and these include the vigilance and efforts taken by local residents to prevent bonfires in their areas. The Council held meetings with Kilnamanagh Neighbourhood Watch as well as residents from Aylesbury and Tymon North this year in advance of Halloween to coordinate the efforts of the residents, the Council and the Gardai in identifying and removing material stockpiles and minimising the impact of bonfires on those areas. A meeting was also held with Clondalkin area elected members on the same matter. The pre-Halloween collections of the Council show an increase from 2020 in materials intercepted before Halloween with Council crews out collecting material on 13 of the 14 days prior to Halloween. It is also quite likely that the weather helped to reduce the number of bonfires held in 2021. It is proposed that meetings with concerned residents groups as mentioned above will be arranged again this year.
The tonnage collected before Halloween in 2020 was 237 tonnes however this increased to 332 tonnes in 2021. Public Realm crews collected 70 tonnes of bonfire material on Halloween weekend itself in 2021 and 33 tonnes of material on the bank holiday weekend prior to Halloween. The tonnage removed from bonfire sites after Halloween has reduced which is consistent with the number of fires held, this figure was 355 tonnes in 2020 and this has decreased to 276 in 2021. The overall tonnage has increased slightly from 592 tonnes in 2020 to 608 tonnes in 2021, the cost figures given in the table below also reflect that increase.
A comparison of statistics for 2020 and 2021 is set out below.
| 2021 | 2020 | |
| Number of bonfires | 180 | 280 |
| Tonnage collected before Halloween | 332 | 237 |
| Tonnage collected after Halloween | 276 | 355 |
| Total tonnage collected | 608 | 592 |
| Total costs | €155,000 | €150,000 |