Market Square, Navan.

Room for optimism and improvement despite IBAL litter league result

Optimism that there will be a major improvement in Navan's performance in the litter league has been expressed by both Navan Tidy Towns and local councillors in the wake of last week's results.

Madeleine Thornton of Navan Tidy Towns said there is good news ahead.

“It is disappointing when Navan doesn't do better in all ways in litter and cleanliness. However, I think there are valid reasons for cautious optimism and hope for Navan in the near future.

“There are two sites that have caused a decrease in our own mark overall. However, with respect to these two sites, there is actually good news ahead, firstly at the recycling facility at the car park, Meath County Council has signed a new contract to maintain and clean this location.

“This will clean the area, so a huge improvement is expected to deal with the discarded materials in conjunction with the ongoing trojan work that all our Navan Tidy Towns volunteers from various groups who tirelessly litter pick every week here and elsewhere.

“In respect to the other location at St Patrick's Park, it is great to see some improvement noted in the IBAL Report, and again it’s hoped that this too will keep improving. I also see that Navan is at 26 out of 40 and moderately littered so in conjunction with other work being undertaken by our Tidy Towns volunteers we hopefully will see continuing improvement.

“The other huge reason for hope and optimism is due to the wonderful work being done by our Navan Tidy Towns volunteers on a weekly basis and I thank them for this great community spirit that has enabled me to enter the national Tidy Towns competition on behalf of our town for the first time since 2016, scoring 291 marks.

“The adjudicator commended our entry and welcomed our specific plans for the future and saw us being a strong contender very soon by saying “we suspect you will jump back into this competition and will advance up the ranks quickly. Best of luck with your future plans and once again, it’s great to have you back”.

Cllr Eddie Fennessy said that whilst moderately littered is a poor designation, it's an improvement on last years result which saw Navan finish fourth from bottom overall.

“Overall the report isn't too bad, reference was made to discarded PPE, food litter, dog fouling and cigarette butts in the centre of town. This was the difference between receiving a B over an A grade. This isn't a big fix, people need to act responsibly and use the public bins at their disposal, it will make a huge difference to our rating next year.

“Government must also accept their fair share of the responsibility. Meath County Council is one of the worst funded local authorities in the state. Sufficient funding needs to be provided to allow the council deliver adequate services in the county,” he said.

Cllr Alan Lawes said his initial response was disappointment, but he believes now that Navan Tidy Towns has been re-established we can only improve on that position next year.

“When looking at the comments I did notice the judges never looked at the main road into the town, The Dublin Road, which in fairness is kept very well by Meath County Council.

“The judges also never looked in Johnstown or the Old Johnstown area either, both of which are looked after very well by community volunteers including our own volunteers with Johnstown Tidy Towns. So much so, that both groups hard work was recognised just recently in the National Tidy Towns awards and the Pride of Place awards.

“Hopefully next year we will do much better once the judges realise that Navan is more than just the centre of town.”

Cllr Emer Tóibín said while Navan is showing some improvement, it is still not where it needs to be in terms of achieving a more consistent handle on its litter problem.

“Although up three places from last year, it still holds a place down the pecking order amongst a grouping of 40 towns around the country. There are 25 towns/cities with a better track record in litter management and clean streetscapes than Navan and there are 14 who are worse.

“According to An Taisce who conducts the nationwide surveys on behalf on IBAL Navan is moderately littered, but we don't need An Taisce to tell us this, we can unfortunately see it with out own eyes; whether it is around the Bull or Preston or Kennedy Place, it is an all too familiar sight across the town.

“Huge money has gone into providing Navan with a facelift and with new bins so, we as a community, need to up our game, be proud of our town and work to make it cleaner and loved. A bit more effort will go a long way and will prompt many to do likewise,” she said.