Enforcement officer to be appointed
THE stick rather than the carrot approach should be used against litter offenders by Limerick City Council, which spends huge amounts of money on street cleaning annually.
So says Cllr Kieran O’Hanlon, who told a meeting of the Environmental Committee that “the council should be making a profit from the amount of littering that is all over the city but as it is, we’re taking in just €4,000 in fines.
“In Johnsgate, people are throwing rubbish into carports,” he said.
Burnt out cars are adding to the litter problem.
Cllr John Gilligan told the meeting that out of concern that an abandoned car in his area would be burnt out, he reported it to the Garda Siochana, only to be told that was a matter for City Hall.
“I was told we would have to write to the owner of the abandoned car – and guess what – you’re right -the car was burnt out”.
Cllr Jim Long said it is about time that tougher measures are introduced to bring litter offenders to heel.
“We must increase the fine from €150 – we need to act in proportion to the problem – we have only three enforcement officers and with our funding gone down, this is cause for concern, but we must take tougher measures and implement them, especially in view of the very low rating we’ve been receiving in the litter polls,” he urged.
Emphatic that enforcement of the law is the only way to get positive results, committee member, Catherine Farrell, said that while monitoring and reviewing the educational campaigns in schools is to be commended, the shock of being fined serves as a very effective wake up call to offenders.
She also repeated a call made down through the years by other councillors that the Park Depot be opened on Saturdays and Sundays.
Old buildings in the city need attention, Cllr Orla McLoughlin commented.
“We’re living in a very old city which has lots of buildings that need deep cleaning”.
Cllr Kieran O’Hanlon interjected: “It even happens at the Park Depot, which offers a wonderful recycling service, free of charge but unfortunately, there are cases of some people dumping old TVs and other stuff in the vicinity of the depot, not realising that there are CCTV cameras on them until they receive a fine in the post – however, we should make the fine proportional to the crime.
“There are over 600 people living in Rhebogue and just a very small number of them have ruined the bank along the Park Canal, yet these people appear to be able to get away with it. It should be that the biggest polluters get the biggest fine”.
Echoing the councillors’ comments, committee member, Sean Griffin, said that zero tolerance is the only way to tackle the issue.
“The perception is that the council takes a very casual attitude on this issue – in my own locality, despite constant cleaning of it by the various clubs using it, Caledonian Park is being littered – CCTV is definitely needed here”.
Chairman of the committee, Cllr Maurice Quinlivan, told the meeting that more attention must be given to approach roads to the city, as well as to housing estates where boarded up houses become magnets for dumped rubbish.
“However, I agree that fines do shock people and are effective”.
City Hall executive Paul Foley, agreed that a more proactive approach to enforcement of the legislation in relation to derelict sites is vital.
“We are in the process of hiring a new enforcement officer, to be in situ in three weeks – we are very disappointed with the city’s low rating in the latest IBAL poll – I appeal to the wider public not to litter – the enforcement will become stronger”.
In relation to Saturday and Sunday opening of the Park Depot, Mr Foley said the issue will be considered.
