‘Dashboard dining’ and dogs dominate councillors’ debate on litter control

In a discussion on the draft litter management plan, Fianna Fail Cllr Paul McCabe asked that, along with the normal publication of the draft document in the Meath Chronicle, Facebook etc, the council targets specifically the people who had been directly involved in the Green Kilometre campaign.

They were the people "at the coalface dealing with the scourge of dumping and littering". The work of the litter wardens was "exemplary" and in his own area litter warden, Ashleigh Daly, was an outstanding public servant and worked very closely with the public representatives and with local communities.

The perpetual issue facing the council was one of enforcement. In civil cases the burden of proof was much higher and it was often difficult to prove a case.

The Litter Pollution Act of 1997 was "out of date" and the minimum fine laid down in that legislation was €150 which was completely "out of kilter" with the type of offences being committed.

Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan said the council staff did Trojan work and had done great work with communities right across the county. She said there was no mention in the plan of people who owned takeaway businesses and the particular responsibilities they had surrounding the litter question. She would also like to have seen more initiatives allowing businesses to sponsor a litter bin. There was also a need for another civic amenity, particularly in the East Meath area. Fine Gael Cllr Alan Tobin said there had been a recent council promotion on "dashboard dining" (in which drivers ate food in their vehicles but then dumped the wrappings). He said there was an increase in dog ownership but wondered if more patrols could be put in place for early mornings and late evenings when some owners failed to pick up dog litter. This often happened outside of a nine to five setting, he said.

Fine Gael Cllr Joe Fox urged everyone to get involved in giving their views on the draft plan. The council did excellent work in the area of litter control and prevention, he said. The council could not do more and any further action on the litter front was down to people’s personal behaviour.

In almost every village, the results of "dashboard dining" could be seen. People bought takeaway food in villages, drove out the road to eat, then "threw the rest out the window". It had to be made socially unacceptable to do this, he said.

Fine Gael Cllr Gerry O’Connor (right), said that when the council’s budget time came around, they would have to look seriously at the provision of "dog parks" to allow people walk their dogs in a contained area. Dog fouling in estates and near schools was "a big issue" and the council could be proactive on this front. He thought that one dog warden for the whole county was not enough considering the large increase in population.

He raised the issue of signposting by auctioneers. While he said he understood that auctioneers had to sell houses, but what was being brought to his attention by community groups was the proliferation of these signs at the entrances to housing estates. There could be a sign saying that a particular house was for sale but another beside it saying "house sold".

Mr Whelan replied saying that certain exemptions were in force and these were set out in the draft document. When the council got complaints, particularly where a house had been sold for a considerable time, it would intervene and then liaise with the particular auctioneer. He also said that while the council had one dog warden, it was also the case that the community wardens can double up as dog wardens when required.

Fine Gael Cllr Maria Murphy had words of congratulations for the Panda company used for collecting the refuse picked up by community groups in the Green Kilometre campaign. Social Democrat Cllr Ronan Moore said that he took the point that there was a balance to be struck between personal responsibility and enforcement but he thought there was a lack of litter wardens in the county. He wondered that because parking enforcement had been outsourced, whether parking attendants had litter prevention built into their work. Could this be included in any future tenders on the parking contract, he asked. Mr Whelan said it was something that could be taken up in any future tender.

Labour Party Cllr Elaine McGinty said that a civic amenity centre for East Meath would be "most welcome". It was certainly needed. She emphasised the importance of hedgerows in climate protection but said there was a huge amount of rubbish being dumped in them. Mr Whelan said that in answer to some of the points raised by Cllr McGinty, the Drogheda and Meath councillors had discussed the idea of a recycling centre for East Meath. The council was looking at a "bulky waste collection day" and obviously the Drogheda centre would be best located for this.

Independent Cllr Alan Lawes said that in the Johnstown area of Navan volunteers had reported an improvement in litter control. A lot of this was down to the work done by the county council, he said. He also raised the issue of auctioneers’ signs and said that for one house being sold there could be up to three to four signs.

Fianna Fail Cllr Damien O’Reilly said he would like to compliment the council’s environmental team on all the work that they did.