Trim improves tidiness while Navan drops in litter league

Trim has improved its ranking in the latest study by business group Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) to finish in sixth place, while Navan has plummetted 23 positions to finish 39th out of the 53 towns surveyed. Trim retained its litter free status and judges have commented that the town will be challenging for the top spot in the league by the end of the year with eight out of the ten sites being "clean to European norms". However, the result for Navan was not so positive and the town has lost its litterfree status and is now deemed to be "moderately littered". Commenting on Navan's results, An Taisce stated: "A disappointing result. Navan should target seven top grade sites to regain its European Status. Trim and Drogheda, its neighbours, are much cleaner. There were just four sites surveyed in Navan which were Clean to European Norms - Delvin Approach Road, Páirc Tailteann (GAA) Stadium, Shopping Centre Access and N3 Dublin Road." The judge commented that Dean Cogan Place was moderately littered but could easily be improved with a little extra effort and that "Boreen Keel access route wasn't just casually littered but also had discarded builders' white sacks". The N3 Kells approach into the town came in for criticism with the judge saying it looked like it "hadn't had a thorough cleaning in quite some time". Our Lady's Hospital and St Patrick's Classical School were found to be moderately littered, unlike most hospitals and schools in Ireland which the report said are now spotless. Navan Town Clerk Shane Donnelly said: "We are disappointed with the result. We will take on board all the aspects outlined in the IBAL report. As part of our newly formed Pride of Place committee, it is our intention to ensure that Navan becomes the cleanest town in Ireland and we look forward to working with all the stakeholders to improve our position in the IBAL league". He added that the Pride of Place committee would help get the stake holders together to improve the town not just in terms of litter but also its appearance. As well as enforcing the litter legislation, Mr Donnelly said Navan Town Council is also trying to educate young people and to get everybody involved in ensuring the town is clean and tidy including schools and businesses. Commenting on Trim, the An Taisce report said: "A great performance by Trim - it will be challenging for the top spot at year end. Eight out of the ten sites surveyed in Trim were Clean to European Norms and the remaining two were just moderately littered. Both the Boys and Girls Secondary Schools were excellent and three of the approach routes were top ranking. Park Norman Pratt is a lovely amenity which has been well cared for and well respected." The Athboy, Dublin and Longwood approach roads were all clean to European norms. The two areas found to be moderately littered were Market Street, where the report stated that "a small scattering of loose litter took away from an otherwise good site"; and the Ballivor approach road where "a definite litter presence along both sides of the road". The Lidl site came in for praise and the judge said it was "immaculate throughout". Trim Town Clerk Brian Murphy said: "We are delighted to maintain our litter free status and hope that we are one of the contenders for the top spot come year end given that we have maintained our Clean to European Standard since the inception of the IBAL litter league. I would like to acknowledge the hard work of the town foreman, Anthony Conlon and the outdoor workers along with the increased effort of the volunteers from Trim Tidy Towns Group." Wexford was judged Ireland's cleanest town in the survey, while Waterford emerged as the cleanest city. Tallaght and Portlaoise were both deemed 'litter blackspots'. "While the drop in the number of litter-free towns is a disappointment, the overall result here is positive," said Dr Tom Cavanagh, Chairman of IBAL. "The average score of all the towns surveyed is now closer than ever to the European average." Meanwhile, Meath citizens are invited to submit photos by mobile phone of litter blackspots in their neighbourhood as part of a "litter twitter" campaign to alert local authorities to litter-ridden areas locally. "This is the perfect technology through which people can highlight areas that urgently need cleaning up," explained Dr Cavanagh. Photos can be emailed to litterspotter.2010@twitpic.com and IBAL can be followed at twitter.com/litterspotter.