Clane-Maynooth Municipal District Meeting, Friday, 5 January 2024
Councillor Pádraig McEvoy
Question
Can the council update the Municipal District Committee on waste levels recovered in 2023 from public areas, particularly in support of initiatives like the Green Mile [Kilometre] and other community clean-ups?
Agenda Report
A report on Community Clean-ups and the Green Mile initiative will be given when available.
Issued By: Mr. K. Kavanagh, Senior Executive Officer, Environment.
Meeting Minutes
CM24/0124 [link]
"A report was received from the Environment Department informing the members that Kildare County Council’s Environment Section collected 22.5 tonnes of waste from cleanups in 2023. These cleanups were undertaken by Green Kilometre participants as well as Tidy Towns groups and residents associations, so the collections covered towns, villages and rural areas. In order to improve the Green Kilometre Scheme, participants were surveyed in December to establish how many cleanups were conducted over the course of
the year. While the figures are still being collated as participants respond, one clear trend emerging is that many participants engage in ongoing mini cleanups and use their own bins to dispose of the litter, so the above figure is less than the actual amount of litter being removed. It also points to the need to continue to support the individuals and groups engaged in cleanups.
Councillor McEvoy said people were now vigilant, thinking beyond their own area, looking outside their own environs and periphery and also contacting Kildare County Council pointing out that Mr. D Wyer had a good association with various groups. He advised that a certain amount of waste was public and not private and that 22.5 tonnes waste collected from clean-ups was substantial. He added that the River Liffey was no longer a place for fish and that fish being caught by anglers had reduced significantly. There was an important
need now to call on people in the community to reach out to Mr. D Wyer the Environmental Awareness Officer.
Mr. D Wyer said that he did not disagree with Councillor McEvoy’s comments and informed the members that the Green Mile had held steady in relation to maintaining an informal network adding that Councillor McEvoy was a participant. He said he could not decide if 22.5 tonnes of waste collected from clean-ups was good news or depressing. He also outlined an initiative as part of the Green Mile whereby a native sapling was the reward for participation, which was an important aspect of bio-diversity. He would like the advertising to
be more proactive and to start mapping the areas, as in Maynooth Streets and Roads, perhaps this could be looked into. Also, the addition of the deposit and return scheme for bottles and cans should show some visible results. Finally, he advised in relation to the potential monetary value associated with black bag dumping and that it was not now just discarding black bags out of the windows of cars.
The report was noted."
Information
Kildare County Council Green Kilometre [link]
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