Residents and business owners fed up with rubbish dumping on Navan's Church Hill

Meath County Council has been urged to activate CCTV cameras in the Church Hill /Old Cornmarket area of Navan in a bid to tackle illegal dumping.

Local businesses and residents are concerned at what they describe as a health hazard, as rubbish is dumped on a regular basis at the corner of Cornmarket and Church Hill.

“A number of people raised the issue of illegal dumping on Church Hill over the past few months. It’s been going on for quite a while and local businesses and residents are not happy that the culprits dump there blatantly without regard for the consequences of their actions," said the Mayor, Cllr Eddie Fennessy.

Local businessman, Eamonn Matthews said that all sorts of rubbish can be found dumped on the corner.

"Everything has been dumped there, a baby carriage, a three piece suite, bags of food waste, general junk, clothes.

Household waste, large items like furniture as well clothes have all been dumped beside proper bins, which are left out for collection by local businesses and residents.

"In fairness to the county council , they come out and take it all away but it is a health hazard."

Cllr Fennessy said, “Meath County Council, to their credit, have managed the issue as best they can. Nobody can fault them at all. They clear up the area as soon as they get a call. In all cases it means directing valuable resources such as staff, time and money to clean up after people who refuse to pay for a refuse collection.

“The situation isn’t getting any better and I think it’s time to get tough on the offenders. I believe the council have CCTV cameras in storage. I am calling on the council to place those cameras at strategic points on Church Hill to catch and to prosecute the offending parties.

“Prosecution is the only deterrent that will work in this case. A heavy fine might force the offenders to weigh up their options and at the very least, to pay for a weekly refuse collection,” he said.