Kells trying to sweep out litter louts

Small communities across the country budget €40,000-€50,000 for their Tidy Towns every year, but Kells had only the support of its Tidy Town and Pride of Place committees, Cllr Brian Curran told the November meeting of the local town council as it discussed the annual TT report. The two voluntary bodies seemed to be 'swimming against the tide', said Cllr Bryan Reilly. They carried out so much work 'often to find it defaced or litter strewn, as at St John"s Cemetery mentioned in the report', he said. There was a clear need for residents on the town"s approach roads to play their part in tackling litter, which was something people did, 'no matter how many bins the council put out', he said. The town"s 10 extra marks in recent years was commended by Cllr Tommy Grimes, who felt there were still problem local authority estates but some had seen magnificent improvement, such as Fr McCullen Park, thanks to small council improvements. Councillors Ollie Sweeney and Conor Ferguson commended the local litter collectors and Pride of Place members. Its efforts to stop littering and encourage owners to do-up their houses had met objections, noted Cllr Peter Caffrey. The council took flak when undergrounding services in Farrell Street but the adjudicators praised this, he said. 'The council should congratulate the property-owners praised in the report,' he said. Cllr Seán Drew criticised the National Roads Authority (NRA) and An Taisce for the deterioration of the road and houses on Maudlin Road. The NRA"s failure to improve that road and An Taisce"s objection to renovations in property there were 'holding up improvement' and 'impacting negatively on the lives of locals', he said. Cllr Curran, who is secretary of Kells Tidy Town Committee, said the event had become 'very competitive'. Some committees were employing architects, designers, horticulturalists and other professionals, but Kells had just one professional who helped them - town engineer Shane Carroll - and he had been criticised in the report for providing too detailed a map, he added. The praise for residential areas was 'wonderful' and was borne out in the 125 participants in the committee"s own annual awards, while the Pride of Place contest had also carried out 'important work', he said. Litter remained 'the major problem' and more co-operation was needed from Kells people, 'particularly on the nine approach roads', he said. Cathaoirleach Brian Collins said it was frustrating for Kells, which was competing against small communities that could get 30-40 volunteers to bring them to the top. Parts of the report, he said, had been 'hysterical' and he thought much more work had been done than had been noted in it. The council agreed it would consider a meeting with the Tidy Towns and Pride of Place committees to prepare a checklist for next year.